


Edge of Tomorrow

by Blutstrom, Furious_Pines



Category: Persona 5
Genre: A little bit of French, Abuse, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Blood, Blood and Gore, Child Abuse, Drug Abuse, Drug Addiction, Drug Use, Drug Withdrawal, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Flashbacks, Flower Language, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Français | French, Gen, Hallucinations, I wasn't planning any romances but people are most definitely getting Joker kisses, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Insanity, It's Not Paranoia If They're Really Out To Get You, Kinda, Medication, NOT QUITE AS ANGSTY AS IT SEEMS I SWEAR, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Panic Attacks, Past Drug Use, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, References to Drugs, Ren Speaks French, Ren is not a happy camper, Ridiculously Slow Burn, Ryuji is a Pirate, Scars, Sexual Abuse, Shanties, Sickfic, Singing, Slow Burn, Stress Eating, Stress Humming, Stress Screaming, Swearing, Therapy, Time Loop, Underage Drug Use, Vomiting, We use his anime name, but it's not really a songfic, but we use game plot, either way it's mostly au, just nicknames, like holy fuck, lots of shanties, not actually a crack fic, not ren, not the whole fic, ohhhhhh boooooyyyyyyyyy, people get burned to death, poor baby, probably, ren gets sick a lot in this, sometimes a crack fic. NOT ALWAYS! just... sometimes, sorta - Freeform, there is some singing at one point?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-19
Updated: 2019-04-17
Packaged: 2019-05-08 21:25:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 22
Words: 45,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14702652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blutstrom/pseuds/Blutstrom, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Furious_Pines/pseuds/Furious_Pines
Summary: Ren's the only one who ever remembers. He stopped counting how many times this cycle has gone, but he's never given up. Every time, he tries something new, every time he gets just a little bit closer to that final blow. But this time is different. This time, he's different. Because this time, he remembers holding his friends' dying bodies in his arms, one after the other. Never again. He can't possibly go through that a second time. One way or another, this is the last time he faces off against humanity's ruin.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to Nicholas on Discord, also known as Furious_Pines on AO3, for helping beta and edit this

**12/24**

**???**

 

He stood, alone, on that glass stage facing down the monster humanity created. That part definitely hurt the most, the fact being that he was _alone._  No matter how many times he’d gone through this, no matter how many times he had failed, he had never failed quite so spectacularly as to end up here all alone. Until today. The rage had burned away, the hatred naught but cinders in what was left of his heart. All that was left was a broken shell. And even still he fought. For hours he battled with the so-called God of Creation, until he was on his knees, panting from exertion and trying to focus through the pain.

 _How many times must we go through this, Trickster?_ Yaldabaoth asked. _Surely, even you can see the futility in continuing this farce._

“Fuck…you…” Joker spat with what little strength he had, “I… will _never_ stop!”

 _Even now? With your accomplices dead and gone?_ And goddammit that almost sounded like pity. A new spark of anger flared up in his heart. Gathering his strength, he slowly got back on his feet and drew his gun. He reached for his mask, and once more called for his inner self.

 

 

**4/9**

**Tokyo**

 

Ren Amamiya snapped awake from his recollection. Not a dream, no, he hadn’t had one of those in a long time. This was simply a memory of the previous times he’d gone through this year. He had stopped counting the attempts a long time ago. After all, he had always reasoned he only needed to win once. Just one win where Yaldabaoth couldn’t pull his little time trick, and this eternal nightmare would be over. But this time, he didn’t feel that usual surge of, frankly, unnatural determination to change fate.

His friends had finally died during an attempt. It was honestly inevitable, and he had made what little peace he could with that fact. But it was the first time in a long while that he’d been completely alone.

 _God,_ he thought, _How in the hell am I supposed to face them again?_

He didn’t know. But he was going to have find out, or at least put on a damn convincing mask. Shouldn’t be too hard for the time being. Far as they were all concerned, he was a complete stranger. They wouldn’t know all his quirks and facial nuances like he knew theirs’.

He was already setting the mask up when his train pulled into the station. By the time he made it to Yongen-Jaya, not even his own mother would’ve been able to tell what he was thinking. He briefly stopped by Boss’ house, just staring up at it for a few moments -

_Futaba’s eyes were wide with terror, blood pooling in her mouth as she reached her hand out to him, choking, trying to say something to him, anything–_

He shook his head to remove the image. Not this time. Never again.

He walked to Leblanc, the scene before him triggering a familiar bout of nostalgia; the old couple in the booth, the newscaster on the TV reporting the mental shutdowns, and Sojiro Sakura doing the crossword while leaning against the countertop. He knew he was screwed instantly, because just _seeing_ Boss again nearly caused the mask to slip –

_They never got him back after Shido’s goons took him, and Sae wouldn’t let him or Futaba see the body after it was reported found a few days later. That told him all he needed to know –_

Damn it all, he has _got_ to get a better grip on that. It wouldn’t do if he started to break down crying once he saw Ann and Ryuji again tomorrow.

Sojiro looked up from his paper as the elderly couple paid and left, thanking him for the coffee.

“Right, they did say that was today. So, you’re Ren?”

He took a moment to compose himself, “Yes sir. Please take care of me,” he said.

“Uh-huh. I’m Sojiro Sakura. You’ll be in my custody for the next year. I was wondering what kind of unruly kid would show up, but you’re the one huh?” And oh, _dammit_ that always hurt just a little every time. That cold demeanor, the dismissal from the man he’d grown to love as a second father. He knew he’d have to put up with it for a few weeks before the man finally mellowed out enough for a civil conversation, but that didn’t really help ease the sting all that much.

“Follow me,” Sojiro said, and he turned and walked to the stairs leading to the attic. His room. That he would have to clean again. Oh well, at least he could look forward to all the decorations he’d be getting –

_A poster torn to shreds, an empty ramen bowl shattered against the wall, all the precious gifts and knick-knacks given to him over the past year, all destroyed by his own hand, too painful memories bubbling to the surface –_

As he climbed the stairs, Ren mumbled to himself, _“I’m so fucking_ _screwed.”_

“You say something?” Sojiro called down. Right, Dad Senses. **™**

“Nothing, just talking to myself,” he said. He could hear Sojiro tiredly grunt in reply, probably nodding to himself as well. He made his way up the stairs, taking in the giant mess that would be his “new” home once again.

“You sure you don’t got something to say?” Sojiro growled.

“...It’s messy,” he replied.

“Yeah, and it’s your job to clean it up. I already cleared out most of the junk, so you can get the rest,” He said grunting, “Got it?”

“Yes B- Sakura-san,” he replied, nodding his head. _That was that_ , he thought as Sojiro walked back down stairs, seemingly not noticing his little slip up.

“Well, no use putting this off,” Ren sighed to himself while putting his bag down and picking up the first few bags of trash, grunting at the weight of what used to be easy lifting. That was always the most annoying part of this “time travel” thing, finding that his body never retained the intense training he put himself through. At least he kept the Personas he’d fused or made contracts with. Honestly, it was always humorous to see the looks on Caroline and Justine’s faces when they saw he already had all ten Personas needed for his “penal labors.”

Ren idly remembered trying to get Lavenza back early on one of his attempts. It hadn’t gone well. It was easy to forget how quickly those two could overpower him, even when they were using the weakest Personas. He shook his head and got back to work cleaning his room. He knew from experience that this was going to take all afternoon.

 

**Evening**

 

“And here comes Boss,” Ren said under his breath as Sojiro climbed the stairs to inspect what all the noise was. Ren had just finished dusting when Sojiro spoke.

    “I heard you moving around up here, but I didn’t think you’d actually be cleaning,” He huffed in disbelief, and there was almost a hint of pride in his voice. He looked around the room somewhat approvingly, which always made Ren feel good, no matter how many times it happened. He allowed himself to smile a little at the praise, wordlessly showing his respect towards the man.

    “Get some rest,” Sojiro said, “I’m taking you up to the school tomorrow.”

    Right. Shujin Academy. Where everyone already hated him and the principal looked like a sentient bowl of pudding. Honestly, the whispers of his schoolmates became white noise very early on, to the point where it didn’t even bother him anymore. It still hurt to see the dismissal and contempt on Kawakami’s face though. And he didn’t even want to think about Kamoshida right now, better to put _that_ away for when he actually needed it.

    He put on some more comfortable clothes and lay down in his futon, wishing Morgana were here to help him drift off to sleep. After lying awake for an hour he finally left the waking world. He was not prepared for the nightmares that came with it.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to J.J. on Discord, also known as Furious_Pines on AO3, for helping beta and edit this

**4/10**

    Ren woke up violently jackknifing, using all of his willpower not to scream till his lungs burst. His eyes were stinging, and he couldn’t tell if it was from the cold sweat or the tears that threatened to fall. _Likely both,_ he figured. He checked the time on his phone; nearly an hour before Boss would show up to drive him to Shujin. He fell back onto his bed, rubbing his eyes.

    “Guess I should’ve seen that coming,” he said ruefully. For what felt like an eternity, he’d been forced by his own psyche to watch exactly what he’d been trying to block out from his previous attempt at this year. Namely the absolute, bloody destruction of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts. He could still feel and smell the blood of his closest friends, as if it had just happened.

    Figuring sleep wasn’t going to be coming again any time soon, he got out of bed. He wanted nothing more than to go downstairs and make himself a nice cup of coffee, but seeing as how Boss would probably bring the wrath of a thousand suns for even breathing on his equipment, he simply opted for getting dressed and waiting for his caretaker to come in. He spent the remaining hour setting up his mask.

    The remaining hour passed without incident. The silence was broken by the bell on Leblanc’s door, with Boss’ footsteps ascending the stairs following shortly after.

    “Hey kid - oh! You’re already up,” Sojiro said.

    Ren merely grunted, then said, “Couldn’t sleep,” as his explanation.

    “Well, don’t go passing out in my car. Actually,” he said checking his watch, “you still have some time. Come downstairs, I still have some leftover curry from yesterday you can eat. How do you take your coffee?”

    “Black,” Ren replied.

    “Quit trying to sound tough,” Sojiro admonished him.

    “I’m not. I really do prefer it black.”

    “Alright then, guess we’ll know if you’re lying in a little bit, won’t we? You look like you need the caffeine anyways,” he smirked.

    Sojiro turned to make the coffee when he heard a loud slam. He turned to find Ren passed out on the counter, as if hit with a sudden fit of narcolepsy. Alarmed, Sojiro hurried over to check on his charge. Taking his pulse, he sighed in relief.

    “Christ kid, I’m too old for you to pull this shit...”

    Grabbing the phone, he dialed the school, unwilling to let the kid go out like this. No way in hell he’d just send him off after blacking out on Sojiro’s watch. Before he could push the “call” button, Ren snapped up and grabbed his wrist. Sojiro flinched and let out a startled shout, dropping his phone. Ren caught it with his other hand.

    “‘M fine. Just need some coffee,” Ren slurred, slowly getting to his feet. He handed Sojiro back his phone.

    “You most certainly are _not_ fine! You just passed out!” Sojiro exclaimed, letting a bit of his Dad Voice™ bleed through subconsciously.

    “Actually, I dozed off while standing. Trust me, I know the difference. Like I said, sleep didn’t come easy last night. I’ll be fine once I get some coffee and curry in me,” Ren said almost nonchalantly. Sojiro looked over him skeptically, obviously having an internal battle with his want to keep Ren at arms length and his natural protective instinct. He eventually relented, and went around the counter to get the coffee started. Breakfast passed without further incident

 

**Shujin Academy**

The first few times he’d gone through this year, Ren would’ve labelled the atmosphere in Principal Kobayakawa’s office as “tense”. Later down the line, he’d’ve called it awkward. Now? He had long since memorized what to say, when to say it, and how much nodding he needed to do to get through this sorry excuse of an introduction. So he simply zoned out and tried to not let Kawakami’s absolute disdain for him get to him -

    _He had been far too late. The Takase’s had long since taken her for all she was worth, and then some. The look in her eyes… she was completely dead inside, and he knew instantly that she had taken the “higher paying job” her boss had mentioned -_

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Kawakami’s voice brought him back to the present.

    “Oh, sorry. Just kind of spaced out for a second,” he replied apologetically. Luckily his mask hadn’t slipped, else he would have had to explain away the fury he felt just remembering what had happened to his teacher last time. The principal’s face scrunched up at his comment.

    “Amamiya, I don’t think you quite realize your-”

    “I’m well aware of my situation, Principal Kobayakawa,” Ren interrupted, “I just have a difficult time stomaching false platitudes from people who want little to nothing to do with me.” Even Ren’s own eyes widened marginally at his words. Where in the hell had _that_ come from? Shit, the flash backs must’ve gotten to him more than he thought. Bright side though, he shut Kobayakawa up.

    Sojiro coughed, “Well, if that’s everything, I have to get back to my shop,” and he turned to leave the room.

    Something in Ren wanted to keep going. He suddenly had the almost overwhelming urge to just tear into the spineless man in front of him; he’d already botched the “First Impression,” why not keep going? But he knew that that would very stupid, and more importantly counter-intuitive. He needed to be in Shujin in order to easily meet most of his team. So, he turned to follow Sojiro.

     “ _Stupid_ ,” he admonished himself under his breath when they got outside.

    “You think?” Sojiro asked sarcastically, “Sheesh kid, I know he wasn’t exactly being hospitable, but I didn’t think you’d be stupid enough to actually call him out on it!”

    “I don’t know what happened. One minute I’m fine, the next I just get really aware of what he’s saying, and it… it…” Ren trailed off.

    “Pissed you off?” Sojiro finished as they got to the car.

    “Yes! That’s never happened before!” Ren exclaimed, not catching himself in time and hoping Boss wouldn’t notice how he phrased that.

    “Well… I guess with all the stress you’ve been through recently, a frayed temper is about the least you could expect,” Sojiro said. Ren inwardly sighed in relief. “But don’t think this gives you a free pass! You pull something like that again and get expelled, you’re out! End of story!”

     “I understand,” Ren said. Sojiro merely kept his attention on the road, the traffic compounding his annoyance. When Ren noticed Sojiro started tapping the wheel from impatience, he said, “Guess I’m taking the train tomorrow.”

     “You’re damn right you are! I won’t be able to open the shop today at this rate!” Sojiro griped. His mood lightened considerably when he got a call on his phone, and he started asking the person on the other end what they meant about “the right one.” Ren had often wondered what Futaba had been asking for in this call, but he never had a good time to ask. Ask too early and Boss would get mad at him for prying into his personal life. Too late and Boss would’ve already forgotten. From the context clues, Ren assumed she was asking for a new printer. Oh well, not like it actually mattered. Still, now that he was thinking about her, Ren couldn’t help but want to get his little sister out of her self-imposed tomb as quickly as he could.

     Ren pulled out his phone and looked at the Meta-Nav. Now that he thought about it, he’d never once tried to go through the Palaces in a different order. He’d always done it the same, start with Kamoshida’s pervert castle, end with Shido’s luxury cruise, then make his way down Mementos. But what if he didn’t do it that way? He had more than enough experience, he just needed a bit of physical conditioning to get his body back up to par. Sure his friends wouldn’t see much action that way, but that honestly made it more appealing to him. No way for them to get hurt again because the followed him.

     They arrived in Yongen-Jaya, and Ren snapped out of his thoughts. He shook his head to clear away that idea. Taking on whole Palaces by himself? That was a _terrible_ idea. Still, nothing said he _had_ to do things in a specific order. Hell, using places like Kaneshiro’s bank or even Shido’s ship for higher level training didn’t sound too bad an idea to him. Lord knew the deeper levels of Mementos stopped offering him a challenge after a while. Well, aside from the Reaper, but that thing doesn’t really count. At all.

     Sojiro opened the car door, startling Ren out of his thoughts.

     “You coming kid?” Sojiro grunted, a mildly concerned look on his face.

     “Y- yeah...” Ren stuttered, causing Sojiro to raise an eyebrow at him. He looked away from his caretaker and quickly walked into LeBlanc, hurrying up the stairs to the attic. Sojiro only looked at the stairs before shaking his head and walking out the door. He had more pressing concerns at the moment.

     Ren sat on his bed, head in his hands for a few moments, thinking about what he would do tomorrow. After all, tomorrow he’d be “meeting” three of the people he loved most in this world, and none of them knew him. And he was apparently having issues keeping his emotions in check, meaning watching Ann get in Kamoshida’s car was pretty much guaranteed to be a disaster.

     Sighing to himself, he simply resolved to let be what would be. Because that _always_ works as intended. Ren got up from his bed to take his uniform off. Now that he thought about it, he actually had a rather important meeting tonight, didn’t he? With the twin gremlins that enjoyed insulting him and the malevolent god that he hated disguised as a kind old magic man.

_Shit._

     Steeling himself, Ren got into bed, slowly drifting off to sleep. It was time to accept his invitation to the Velvet Room.

**The Velvet Room**

     “HEY! Wake up inmate!” 

     “Piss off.”

     Well didn’t this start off just wonderful?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna have fun writing the twins, I just know it


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks as always to J.J. AKA Furious_Pines for the beta and editing.
> 
> I've gotten a lot of really nice comments over the course of this, and I haven't responded individually because I don't know how, so I'm just going to right here: thank you all so much for your support!

“E- EXCUSE ME!?” Caroline screeched.

Rising off the cot like a zombie out of a coffin, Ren grinned at Caroline and ignored Justine’s dumbstruck look as he all but _waltzed_ to the door of the cell, still grinning all the while.

Looking Igor dead in the eyes, he said, “I’d call you Pinocchio, but I’ve seen what you’ve done to the Blue Fairy.”

Justine looked like she was having a mental breakdown, hands shaking at the sides of her face, while Caroline sputtered stupidly, standing in the corner opposite of her panicked sister. “Igor” simply kept that same damn grin on his face, though his shoulders started shaking. It was _chuckling._

“My, but what a fine way to introduce yourself, inmate,” the fake at the desk said.

“Oh, we haven’t gotten to the real introduction just yet, _Yaldy,_ ” and oh, there was an actual facial change in that fake’s mask. He slowly felt his grin fall into what his friends had called his Joker smirk.

“What? You _mad_ I saw through your _bullshit?”_

“More curious as to why you would tip your hand so soon. And without a single Persona on hand for you to command, no less.”

“Oh, I just know that your egotistical ass is too curious to kill me right now.”

The thing chuckled at him again, “Quite. So tell me, inmate, what exactly is your plan?”

“Well, I am _so_ glad you asked _sweetie_ , because I would love to tell you in detail what I’m going to be doing this year!” He said in a perfect valley girl impression, “No, here’s what’s gonna happen next: I’m gonna get my real attendant back, and you’re going to spend the rest of this year waiting in the depths of Mementos, where I will finally end this bullshit Groundhog Day parody, you divine sippy cup.”

“Your insolence knows no bounds, does it not?” it asked, with actual annoyance finally creeping into its voice.

“And your nose doesn’t either. I’m aware it’s not actually your nose, but you’re the one wearing it, so,” Ren tutted, waving his finger back and forth in a displeased fashion. It was at this point Caroline had finally gained enough composure for an actual sentence.

“N-Now hold on just a damn minute, Inmate! Who in the hell do you think you are to talk to our master like that?!” She all but screeched at him, waving around her baton.

Ren snapped his fingers and gained a surprised look on his face, as if recalling something, “That’s right, I did say I was going to actually introduce myself didn’t I? Thanks for reminding me, Lavenza,” a mystified look passed over both twins’ faces at that name.

“I think you’ve got the wrong fugly old man, _ma précieux_ Blue Fairy,” he said while raising his hand to his cell door. Suddenly, the door started glowing before disappearing altogether. The girls stepped back in alarm and awe, while Ren walked out of the cell, blue flames coalescing into a white mask as he waved a hand over his face.

 _So here we are again, hmm, mon amie?_ The familiar voice of his inner self called to him. And immediately after came the head splitting agony as he fell to his knees.

 _How often we have done this dance, hm, mon_ **_chien_ ** _? It almost feels… pointless in a way, doesn’t it?_

“Don’t try and talk me out of this,” he gritted out, “You of all people know how pointless that is!”

He heard a laugh, _Ah, oui mon chien, that I do. So, shall we forge our contract anew once again?_

“YES!”

 _Very well, I have heeded your resolve, mon chien._ **_I am thou, thou art I. Thou who art willing to perform all sacrilegious acts for thine own justice! Call upon my name, and release thy rage! Show the strength of thy will to ascertain all on thine own, though thou be chained to Hell itself!_ **

_“ARSENE!”_ Ren screamed out, ripping away his mask. A blinding flash of royal blue-white light overtook the Velvet Room. When it finally cleared, Joker stood before the three residents of the Room, Arsene at his back and a sanguine smirk on his face.

“You asked who I am, right _ma chien en colère?”_ he turned to the small warden.

“Well, not exactly, I was-”

 _“Je m’appelle_ , of course, is Ren Amamiya. In the coming weeks, I’ll be known to others as _Joker._ But for right now, I do have a certain title that is incredibly relevant to my _glorieux_ plans for this year.”

“What title?” Justine asked cooly. Ren simply grinned, and took hold of the black chains surrounding Arsene. Yaldabaoth’s stolen eyes widened to inhuman levels.

“STOP HIM NOW!” It screamed far too late.

“I’m the Trickster, _ma Lutin Bleu_ ,” Joker pristinely smiled, and snapped the chains. A second burst of light filled the Room, this one far more powerful than the last. When it finally cleared, Ren simply laughed at the expression on Yaldabaoth’s face.

“What happened?” Caroline asked, “Where’s the Persona?”

“He wouldn’t fit in here,” Ren said, “Check the Compendium. Arrange it by strength, and he should be near the top, or just check under the Fool arcana.”

Justine shakily reached for the book by her side, doing as he said. She turned the pages, finding the Persona he had just created. When she found it, her eye widened in horror.

“Oh my god…!”

“HOW THE HELL-” Caroline shrieked.

“‘Hell’ she says. Yeah, that’s just about right,” Ren sighed in exaltation.

_“Chère Satanael.”_

Yaldabaoth _shook_ in its rage, “You are a _fool_ , Trickster.”

“Actually, my arcana is The World, funnily enough. I believe _you_ are the Fool, _ma Douleur,”_ he said with a smirk.

“You think your glib will save you?”

“No, what’ll save me is the fact that you aren’t anywhere near full power while wearing that disguise, and Satanael should give more than enough of an edge to kick you out of here, and get the real Igor back, _ma Douleur.”_

“You will _perish_ under the strain of his power.”

“If I use him for more than a minute, sure. But I don’t need that long to kick your wrinkly ass.”

“WELL THEN HURRY THE _FUCK_ UP, INMATE.”

“We do not wish to stay in this form for much longer.”

Ren turned to the two, _non_ , one, “Oh your memories came back?”

“Yes, they have, thank you,” Justine said.

“Sure as hell, inmate!!” Caroline yelled.

“Well, just give me a minute to deal with this guy and we’ll get you two set up in the guillotine,” he said before turning to Yaldabaoth again, ”So what’s it going to be? You leave peacefully, and wait for Christmas, or I start _pillaging.”_

    “...So be it Trickster. I will leave, and return Igor to his rightful place.”

_“Au revoir, ma Douleur.”_

“Goodbye Trickster.”

With a flash of light, Yaldabaoth disappeared.

“And they say _I’m_ the theatrical one,” He scoffed.

“Ahem,” a small voice called from behind the guillotines

“Apologies, _ma Lutin Bleu_ _._ _”_

“All is well Trickster.”

“By the way,” Caroline called, “I actually speak French too, and fuck you.”

“I’m not changing it,” Ren said, preparing the execution cloaks, “Nor am I sorry.”

The twins got into position, and Ren pulled the lever without fanfare. The blades fell, and the two dissolved into white butterflies, merging into one once again. Lavenza stood before him.

“Thank you, Trickster,” she said while dipping into a curtsy.

“Anytime, _ma Fée Bleue,”_ he said, bowing to her. Before more could be said, a ball of light dropped from the ceiling, revealing the true Igor.

“Master!” Lavenza cried, and rushed to his side.

“Welcome back, _Vieux Fou,_ ” Ren said with a smile before groaning and putting a hand to his head.

“You’ve expended too much energy,” Lavenza said, “Rest, _Voleur Martyr_. We’ll talk more tomorrow.”

Ren nodded, and walked back to the cot in his cell.

    Igor chuckled, “I don’t quite know what’s going on, but I get the feeling this is going to be quite interesting.”

    “You have _no_ idea,” Ren said over his shoulder.

    “ _Rest.”_ Lavenza said again, more forcefully, _“Vous avez assez sacrifi_ _é, Voleur Martyr._ _”_

    “Yes ma’am, I’m going,” he said already laying down.

And fading into darkness…

He awoke.  

**4/11**

****

Ren shuddered awake, coughing violently. He felt like he was burning alive, his head stuffed with cotton. And yet he was happy. For once in over a decade, he had no idea what was going to happen next. It was refreshing, to say the least. Even if Awakening to Satanael in his sleep was probably one of the stupidest things he’d ever done, and he currently felt like hell because of it.

Jerking up, starting to feel nauseous, he corrected himself. It _was_ one of the stupidest things he’d ever done. Normally, he’d be bedridden, maybe with some hot tea and noodles. Unfortunately, he couldn’t afford that today. Too many incredibly important things took place today: Ann, Ryuji, Morgana, there was no way in hell he was going to miss this!

    Ren started to curse his existence after he fell down the stairs, alarming Sojiro with the loud crash. Rushing out of the kitchen, Sojiro looked down at his charge in disbelief.

    “Kid, this had better not be becoming a habit.”

    Ren just held a thumbs up and struggled to his feet, mild nosebleed running down his face. Sojiro flinched back in alarm.

    “Well, you look like Hell.”

    “Feel like it too,” he rasped. Shit, don’t notice, don’t notice.

    “And you sound like it too. You can’t go to school like that.”

    _DAMN IT_

Ren bolted out the door at full speed.

    “YOU LITTLE SHIT, GET BACK HERE.”

    “NOT TODAY, BOSS!”

    He tripped, falling on his face before immediately scrambling back up at an alarming speed.

    “I swear to god, I actually got stuck caring for Satan’s hellspawn.”

    _Oh, if only you knew,_ Ren thought, thinking back to the demon lord he’d just summoned.

    “Kid at least let a doctor take a look at you!”

    But it was too late, he was already out of earshot. After a small, but painful amount of running, he arrived at the train station, basically coughing up his lungs. And the rain had started pouring down about halfway there. Luckily, he could see the awning where he was going to meet Ann.

“F- fuck,” he wheezed, “The sky...” He choked out.

“Are you ok?” Ah, there she is. He turned to one of his oldest friends.

 _“Never better,”_ he broke out in a series of coughing and wheezing.

“Do you need me to help you? You seem to be going to the same school as me,” Ann stated, concern evident in her voice.

Yes! Kamoshida couldn’t drive her if she wasn’t there! Which really helped, because he didn’t think he had it in him to glare the bastard into submission (which he’d actually managed to do before). Now all he had to do was stall her just long enough for Ryuji to show up.

“Thank you so much...”

“It’s really no big deal, you look like you’re about to collapse...”

“Well, I fell down the stairs this morning.”

“WHAT?!”

His ears rang, “It’s fine! I’m fine!” He said, waving it off.

“Should you even be coming to school…?”

“Pshhhh,” He proceeded with a cough, “I’m good. Trust me, I’ve had worse...”

Oh shit, wrong answer, he realized as Ann stared at him in horror. Right answer? Wait, when was there two Anns...?

Kamoshida drove up in his _asshole car of assholery_ , Ren thought deliriously, mildly beginning to sway. Fortunately, he could just barely hear fast footsteps getting closer. He discreetly pulled out his phone and opened the Meta-Nav while Ann explained to Kamoshida why she couldn’t ride with him. Screeching to a stop next to them, Ryuji arrived in all his wonderful sunny glory, just as the lecherous P.E. teacher began to drive away alone. Now he just had to hope Ryuji would stick to his script.

“Damn, screw that pervy Kamoshida, actin’ like he’s king of a castle or somethin’!” He turned to Ren, “Hey, you a Shujin student? Never seen you before.”

_Bless you, you beautiful blond bastard._

“Mm’ new,” Ren mumbled, beginning to lean on Ann as the world spun around him.

“Shit, dude you ok?”

“Totallyyyy,” He rasped.

“He’s completely out of it,” Ann said, “Sakamoto, can you help me here? We need to get him on a train.”

“Huh? Oh, sure. No problem I guess. But won’t we be late?”

“He’s our excuse.”

“Makes sense.”

“Mm’ not an excuseee… I’m a...” He looked down in confusion.

“He really should be at home,” Ryuji muttered.

“Thanks for the comment, Captain Obvious.”

“Cap’in Kiiidd...” Ren giggled hysterically at his joke.

“Uh, what?” Ryuji asked.

Ann put a hand to Ren’s forehead before jerking back in pain.

“Holy shit, that is hot!”

Ryuji snorted at her choice of wording, before looking to Ren in concern.

“Christ, we should hurry up before his brain melts.”

Walking over to the train, they stopped when the world very briefly turned purple before returning to normal coloration.

“Did you… feel something just then?” Ann asked.

“Oh shiiit, iz his palacee,” Ren waved his finger in the air, before letting it flop back to his side.

“Who’s?!” Ryuji all but yelled.

“Kamo… Kamoshida’z, _monn Soleeeil..._ ”  

“Wha… What did he just call me?”

“Didn’t realize the transfer was French.”

“Yeah, but no one would guess you speak Swedish.”

“True, I guess. Anyways, I’m pretty sure he called you the sun?”

“Is my hair that bright?”

“Iz cuz of yer bright personaliidy… And yer hair,” Ren smirked.

“The fuck…?”

“Uhm, Sakamoto? I think we have bigger concerns,” Ann said, pointing at something in the distance.

“Why? What’s… THE SHIT?!”

 _“We’re heeerrree!,~”_ Ren sang, before Ann dropped him in alarm.

“Shit, sorry!”

Ren muffled incoherently into the dirt.

_“Murgurner.”_

“What?” Ryuji replied while Ann gently rolled Ren over.

“Morgana.”

Suddenly, a black shadow dashed over to them, holding a slingshot to Ren’s face.

“How do you know my name?! How did you even _see_ me?!?”

“Dia… _Dia!”_

“HOLY SHIT, IT’S A GIANT CAT!”

“I AM NOT A CAT YOU BASTARD! DO YOU THINK A CAT COULD TALK?!

 _"_ _For fuck’s sake_ , DIA ME, MORGANA YOU LITTLE SHIT!” Ren rasped before curling into himself, all but hacking up a lung.

“... Only to get some answers outta you.”

“Don’t giv’a shiiiit,” Ren moaned.

“Hmph,” Morgana grunted, and called, “Zorro!”

“HOLY SHIT!” Both Ryuji and Ann screamed in unison as giant masked man with a sword came out of Morgana.

“Shut the fuck uuuup.”

Morgana held out his not-a-paw and shouted, “DIA!” at Ren. Small green sparkles came from Zorro and went into Ren, who slightly groaned, before slowly sitting up, sighing in exhaustion.

“Well, at least I’m more cognizant.”

“Answers. Now.” Morgana said

“Goodnight Morgana.”

“W- WHAT, NO!”

Ren closed his eyes as Morgana screeched in rage.

Ren passed out before his even head hit the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have this headcanon that Personas influence their wielders in certain ways, mostly movements and speech, which is why Ren is speaking so much French. And why Ryuji will be singing a sea shanty in this at some point


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks as always to J.J. AKA Furious_Pines on AO3

**Shujin Academy**

****

Ren jerked awake, heart hammering in his chest, before falling off the bed he was on.

“Goodness, you are not having a good day, are you?” The school nurse tutted in concern, holding the curtain surrounding his bed to the side.

“Let me get my thermometer,” She said, letting the curtain fall. Just as she turned around, Morgana stuck his head out of Ren’s bag, which was hanging off the bedpost. Glaring for a few  seconds, Morgana shuffled back into the bag, hissing in anger. Ren slowly stood up and plopped back onto the bed, sighing as he laid back down.

The Nurse returned, gently sticking the thermometer into his mouth.

“101 Degrees… High, but much lower than before. I’m going to have to call your guardian to take you home.”

“Wait, no no no, I’ll be fine!” Ren all but pleaded.

“Look, I’ll give you before the end of this period before I send you home, alright?”

It seems the odds were on his side for once, as his temperature lowered to an acceptable level by the time the period ended.

“Go straight to class, and if you feel bad again, return immediately!”

“Got it,” Ren saluted, before walking to homeroom. He arrived just as the bell rang, Kawakami turning to glare at him, before registering it as Ren and changing to a look of mild pity. He probably still looked like shit, but oh well.

“Welcome our new transfer, Amamiya. He arrived late as he wasn’t feeling well, and passed out when he arrived,” Kawakami stated, “All right, please say something to the class.”

 _“Bonjour,_ my name is Ren, it’s a pleasure to meet you all.”

Shit, he totally overdid it.

_“Is he French?”_

_“He looks so frail...”_

_“Those rumors can’t be true...”_

_“He’s waaay too weak to even hurt a fly.”_

_“He looks like a mild wind would knock him over.”_

Well… That actually went a lot better than expected.

“You can take the empty seat over there behind Takamaki,” Kawakami said, rather disinterested.

“Yes _madam_ ,” he said, walking over to his chair. Might as well roll with it, right?

_“‘Madam’? You gotta be kidding me!”_

_“He’s totally French.”_

_“He’s so polite!”_

_“I wish he was sitting behind me, instead of that Takamaki!”_

    Bless Arsene, that beautiful son of a bitch. Even if that last one annoyed him. He managed to keep his tongue in check.

“Alright, settle down!” Kawakami called out. The class quieted marginally.

Ann gave him an odd look. Actually, she looked a little freaked out. He gave her his dorkiest smile.

_“Oh my god.”_

_“Pfffft-”_

_“This guy can’t be real.”_

_“Is- Is this actually happening?”_

“I said settle down!”

As he took his seat, Ren very discreetly passed Ann a note, promising a full explanation after class. She just stared at it, hands held together to a point in front of her face. He coughed, proceeding to take notes. He probably wasn’t going to be able to ask her for notes after, and hers were peppered with tons of English anyways.

As the bell rang, Ren signaled for Ann to follow him as he texted Ryuji to meet him at the roof. Oh shit, he wasn’t supposed to know his number yet. Whatever, hopefully he’d be too distracted to notice. Dashing up the stairs, he pocketed his phone, opening the door to the roof.

Ryuji sat in wait, looking up to see Ren running over.

“So what the hell was all that?”

“Which part? The castle or the not-cat? Speaking of which, Morgana, you can come out now,” Ren said, setting his bag down allowing the cat to crawl out.

“Fuck you.”

“You’re not my type, _mon_ _Petit Espoir.”_

“What did you just call me?!”

Ren just held a finger over his lips and smirked.

“Secret.”

    Ann held up her hands, “Okay, wait a minute, back up and start explaining, Amamiya.”

    “Well to start off, I’d prefer if you all just called me Ren. Now, I’m feeling much better than I was this morning, so I’ll be taking any questions you may have, starting with _ma Chaton Rouge.”_ He said, pointing to Ann.

    “Um, okay? Guess I’ll start with why you have French nicknames for us?”

    “Force of habit.”

    “Dude, we just met,” Ryuji said.

“Who said you’re the first for me to nickname?”

“He has a point,” Ann pointed out.

“ _Mon Soleil’s_ turn,” he smirked, pointing to Ryuji.

    “Wait, hold on!” Ann protested.

    “Your turn will come again, just be patient _ma Chaton Rouge,”_ Ren teasingly admonished her. Ann simply huffed in reply.

“Now then, _mon Soleil,_ the floor is yours.”

    “Uhhh, alright I guess. What was that castle-lookin’ thing?”

    “Shujin Academy,” Ren said matter-of-factly.

    “Uh, no,” Ryuji said confused, “It really wasn’t.”

    “Let me be more specific,” Ren said, correcting himself, “It’s Kamoshida’s _perception_ of Shujin Academy, from the deepest, shittiest parts of his heart. So, basically all of it,” he joked.

Ryuji snorted.

“A pretty bare-bones explanation, but you’re not wrong,” Morgana said, “So I guess that makes it my turn?”

_“Oui, mon Petit Espoir.”_

“How do you know all of this?”

Ren cringed inwardly as he briefly frowned, not only at the question, but at the memory that came with it. He’d been hoping no one had noticed. Should’ve figured Mona wouldn’t let it drop that easy.

“I’m a sentient Shadow,” He joked.

“WHAT?!” Morgana shrieked

“I’m kidding! Jeez, you think a Shadow would’ve been able to leave like I did?”

“Well.. No. I guess it wouldn’t. But that still wasn’t funny! And you dodged my question!”

Ren sighed, frown deepening as he stared at the ground, “Look, as much as I want to explain all of that, I can’t. Not like this, it would take way too long, and it’d be way too confusing.”

_Ryuji smiled up at him, blood pumping out of his chest, eyes slowly glazing over as he gripped the lapels of Joker’s coat. “It’s okay man,” he said, “I’ll be…” -_

Ren jerked backward, tripping over one of the potted plants on the ground and getting the air knocked out of him as he slammed into the ground. He wheezed. Well, Haru was going to kill him for that later.

God _damn it_. He should’ve figured he wasn’t free of these damned flashbacks, not after something like that, even if he had managed to banish Yaldabaoth from the Velvet Room.

“Shit- Dude, fuck, are you alright?”

Was he breathing? _Oh shit, ok, remember to breathe. Fuck, too much, now you’re hyperventilating. Fuck, fuck, fuck._

 _“Stupid,”_ he said under his breath.

“Hey don’t go passing out again!” Morgana said. After a few moments, Ren managed to catch his breath again.

“I’m fine,” Ren said, still panting

“No you’re not! What the hell was that?” Ann demanded.

“Short answer? Panic attack.”

“And what’s the long answer?” Ryuji asked.

“Ah, _mon Soleil,_ it’s not your turn for a question yet,” Ren wobbly smiled.

“Screw the stupid game dude, just give us a straight answer!”

“I can’t, I’m bi,” Ren snickered.

Ryuji looked ready to strangle him, and Ann looked just as done with his bullshit.

“Okay, okay, I’m done. I promise. Full explanation, in the Palace. I’ll be able to answer a few more questions once we’re inside.”

“... Alright. I trust you.”

_“Merci, maChaton Rouge.”_

Ren sprinted off to class.

“... I’m still curious about what my nickname means,” Ann muttered.

    “Guess we’ll find out in that… what’d he call it? A Palace?” Ryuji said.

    “Sure.”

****

**Kamoshida’s Palace**

“Dude, what the hell are you _wearing?_ ”

    “Nice, huh? It’s _magic.”_

“Are you shitting me.”

    “Not even a little. Well, okay, I guess ‘magic’ isn’t the greatest term for it, but I don’t actually know enough about cognitive psience to properly explain everything, so we’ll just call it magic for now.”

    “HALT!”

    “Shit, it’s too early for them to be here-”

    “For who?” Ann asked as three armored knights rounded the corner, swords drawn, and started advancing toward them.

    “For them,” Joker said as he drew his knife, about to put his hand to his mask before remembering all he had on hand was Satanael. Which was another way of saying all he had on hand was a tactical warhead, an ace in a lost hand, and, oh yeah, _a fucking demon lord_ . As effective as he would undoubtedly be, Joker needed this Palace standing for the time being so Skull and Panther could Awaken. _Better stick to CQC for now_ , he thought.

“You’re going to come with us, feel lucky Kamoshida told us to take you alive.”

These poor bastards wouldn’t last - oh right, Ann and Ryuji. Without his Persona, the fight would take too long, and he wouldn’t be able to protect them with just his knife if more guards showed up, even with Morgana’s help. He put his knife back and raised his hands.

“Surrender,” he muttered to the others out of the corner of his mouth.

“What?!” Morgana almost screeched, “We can take these cannon fodder, no - !“

“SILENCE!”

“Just go with it for a little while. I promise it’ll be alright,” Joker said as Ann and Ryuji followed his lead.

Morgana growled before dropping his saber and putting his paws up.

They allowed themselves to be forcefully escorted into the castle and thrown into a cell. They waited until Kamoshida’s Shadow finally arrived in his disgusting “outfit.”

“What in the _shit?!”_ Ryuji yelled, “ _Kamoshida?!”_

“Ah, I had wondered what rat had made its way into my castle, but it turned out to be you, Sakamoto. And you brought a friend, a freak, and a second Ann for me to play with,” he said with a perverse grin on his face.

“To PLAY WITH?!” Ann screeched, fighting against the guards to no avail, “YOU FILTHY BASTARD!”

“Tch,” Kamoshida scoffed, “You already corrupted her. No matter, that’ll just make it more fun to put her in her place.”

Unnoticed by all, Joker’s fist started trembling, rage clouding his mind. He barely kept a hold on it, but it was a close thing. The others didn’t need to see him slaughter an entire room with just a knife. The guard holding him, however, began to realize his anger, if not the danger it foretold.

Pressing a blade to Joker’s neck, the guard hit him over the head, causing blood to trickle down his face.

“Know your _place,_ scum! How dare you look at our beloved king with such scorn!”

_Your PLACE!_

* * *

****

 

Ryuji couldn’t believe this day! He’d just tried to help some sick kid get home, and now he was in some effin’ castle with a magic guy, a talking cat, and Takamaki! And to top it all off, they had to look at Kamoshida in his damn underwear!

“Bring Ann to my chambers, execute the rest,” Kamoshida said casually, as if simply telling someone to take out the trash.

“Execute…? Hey, stop playin’ around, this ain’t funny, damn it!” Ryuji cried.

“Oh? You think this is a joke? Execute the other first. Maybe watching his friend perish will make him finally realize.”

The guard pressed his blade to Ren’s neck, drawing blood, before reeling back to chop it clean off. Ren glared at the blade, mumbling just within earshot, “Can’t repeat...”

“REN!” Ann cried as the guards were already pulling her out of the cell.

“NO!” Ryuji screamed, reaching out his hand. He couldn’t let this happen, he had to find a way to stop this! Too weak… He was too damn WEAK! He needed to be _stronger!_

_You made me wait quite a while didn’t you?_

Ryuji clutched his head as an unimaginable pain gripped him. It felt like cannons were going off in his head endlessly.

_You seek power, correct? Then let us form a pact. Since your name has been disgraced already, why not hoist the flag and wreak havoc…? The “other you” who exists within desires it thus._

“I’ll do anything! I just need to save him!”

**_I am thou, thou art I. There is no turning back… The skull of rebellion is your flag henceforth!_ **

Ryuji screamed out in agony as a metal mask appeared on his face. He immediately reached up and ripped it off with all his strength.

**“CAPTAIN KIDD!”**

A blinding white light came from Ryuji. When it settled, Ryuji stood there, perfectly fine, albeit with different clothes. A black leather jacket with a metal spine and the collar popped, black comfortable jeans with a really nice pair of boots, and a red tie loosely tied around his neck. All in all, Ryuji thought he looked pretty damn good. The eight foot tall pirate skeleton certainly didn’t hurt the image either.

“Alright! Wassup Persona?” He asked with a cocky grin on his face

“He… he has a Persona?” Morgana asked in disbelief.

* * *

 

 

    “‘Bout time,” Joker said, batting aside the spear at his neck and shoving his knife into the eye-holes in the helmet of the guard holding him. The Shadow crumbled to dust.

    Kamoshida panicked and ran away, the two guards carrying Ann following him.

    “Shit!” Ryuji exclaimed, already taken care of the guard holding him, “We have to - ugh,” he groaned before falling to his knees, “What in the hell?”

    “Awakening does that to you,” Joker explained, “Don’t worry, it’ll pass after you get some rest, Skull.”

    “‘Skull’? What happened to ‘moan Soleel’?”

    “Please, never try and speak French again. Anyway, your mask is skull shaped, so it just popped out. Sorry.”

    “Nah, it’s cool man. I actually kinda like it.”

    “Well, that’s nice and all, but HE’S GETTING AWAY!” Morgana screamed.

    “You could’ve followed after them,” Joker pointed out.

    “And leave you to fend for yourself? What do you take me for?” Morgana asked, offended.

    “Fair enough. Come on, we’ll find a safe room to stash Skull and go after Ann.”

    “Whoa, wait, what do ya mean ‘stash me’?” Ryuji asked.

    “You’re in no condition to fight right now, you’ll just slow us down.”

    Ryuji looked conflicted, so Joker reassured him, “Don’t worry, you’ll get plenty of chances to tear shit up tomorrow, after you’ve had some rest.”

    “Alright fine, ya convinced me. Let’s go already!”

    “Right.”

    _And I sure as hell am not taking that risk again. I won’t lose you._

    The three made their way out of the dungeons, and after depositing Ryuji in a safe room along the way, Joker and Morgana quickly caught up with Kamoshida and his entourage in the main hall. Ann’s struggling had slowed them down considerably. Thank god they’d gotten there in time -

    _They hadn’t been quick enough. They found Ann tied to the x-frame, her clothing in tatters, with tears in her eyes, her voice was raspy from screaming -_

Joker could feel something inside him _crack_ at the memory, and he struggled to keep it together.

    “Let her go Kamoshida!” He yelled out. The Shadow and his knights turned to them.

    “You knaves again? I thought I ordered your execution!”

    “Yeah, and I killed the executioner. Funny how that works, isn’t it?”

    “You arrogant little-!”

    “Oh, King Kamoshida~~” and especially vapid voice called out seductively. Joker’s eyes widened at the voice, as did Morgana and Ann’s.

    “Ah, my Princess,” Kamoshida said, considerably calmer just from hearing her voice, “Come here, won’t you?”

    “Okay~!” And a near perfect duplicate of Ann walked down the stairs in a skimpy bikini and a golden tiara on her head.

    “Is… is that _me?!”_ Ann asked, disgusted.

    “No, it’s a cognitive shadow,” Morgana explained, “It’s just how he sees you!”

    “THAT DOESN’T MAKE IT BETTER!” Ann screamed in rage. And no, no it most certainly did not. The thought that _this_ was how Kamoshida saw one of the strongest and most determined women Ren had ever met, like a she was a damn _sex toy_ , arguably made it worse.

    “Like, who even are these people? And is that another me?” Princess Ann gasped, “Are you replacing me? Have I not been good enough for you?!” And there were actual fucking tears in that thing’s eyes.

    “No, no, no, my sweet Ann,” Kamoshida reassured his Princess, “I just simply thought having two Ann’s would be better is all.”

    “Oh, okay! That makes sense~! You’re so smart, King Kamoshida!”

    Ann looked like she was trying not to vomit. Meanwhile, something inside Joker _shattered_ at hearing Princess Ann continue talking. His whole body trembled with rage.

    “You _bastard!”_ He said, getting Kamoshida’s attention.

    “Huh? What’s that you lowlife? What, are you jealous - ?”

    There was a small flash of silver light in the air between Joker and the Shadow. In an instant, Joker’s arm was outstretched, his knife gone. Kamoshida looked to his side as Princess Ann slowly crumpled to a heap on the ground. Joker’s knife could be seen lodged firmly in between her eyes, before she dissolved into black dust. The Shadow looked up in fear at the unconcealed rage and hatred in Joker’s eyes.

    “I’m going to enjoy this,” He said, voice dead cold.

    Azure and teal flames blazed into existence, surrounding him as he stalked towards Kamoshida in pure fury.

    **_Salut, mon chien. Are you really such a fool as to wield me just after your recovery?_ **

**** “I am no fool, _ma Flamme…_ I am a Trickster.”

    Satanael smiled, chuckling to himself, and like the _Fée_ Ren so adored…

    The world lit up in _bleu._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all ever just... watch the Awakenings in Persona 5 and get chills? Because I watch them to get the dialogue right, and I swear I get more goosebumps with every one (Makoto's is my favorite)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Furious_Pines for the usual editing stuff, and for basically writing most of the latter half of this (I was incredibly tired and my brain is mush)

It wasn’t Satanael. At least, Satanael did not fully materialize above Joker. The most anyone could see of the Persona were six leathery wings, curled horns, and a very imposing size. But that was perfectly fine; even with only a fraction of his full power, Joker could easily take on these weaklings. And so he did.

    Moving as if he were a living shadow, Joker rushed Kamoshida, kicking the depraved king in the jaw and picking up his knife in a single movement before any of the knights could react. He quickly dispatched two of these knights, before turning his attention to the remaining one still holding Ann. It was trembling in fear.

    “I’m going to count to three,” he said to the terrified Shadow, “If you haven’t let her go by then - “

    The Shadow screamed, “JUST TAKE HER! I’M SORRY!” And threw Ann at him before turning tail and running down the hall. Joker watched it leave, then checked for around for Kamoshida. Nowhere, he had slipped through the hidden passage behind his portrait in the chaos. Joker shook his head in disgust before looking at Ann.

    “ _Ma Chaton Rouge,_ are you alright? Did they hurt you?” He asked a bit desperately, checking her over for any injuries.

    “No, no, I’m fine really,” she assured him, “More importantly, what was that? And where’s Ryuji?!”

    “He’s safe, assuming he stayed put,” Joker said. _Wait_.

    Ann’s shoulders dropped, “Oh no.”

    “...I left him in a safe room back there, come on.”

    The two made started to make their way back to Ryuji, before realizing Morgana wasn’t following. They turned to him, and the look on his face caused them both concern.

    “Mona?” Joker asked, “ _Mon Petit Espoir_? Are you alright?”

    Morgana looked absolutely thunderstruck, “Am I alright? _Am I alright?_ I SHOULD BE ASKING YOU THAT! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT PERSONA?!” Morgana suddenly exploded.

    Joker looked conflicted for a second before answering, “Long story short, his name is Satanael.”

    “Is this part of that whole ‘you want to explain but can’t because it would take too long and you’re kind of an overdramatic dick’ thing?” Ann asked.

    “Very astute, _ma Chaton Rouge_. Yes, it does. And I prefer to be called ‘theatrical’ thank you very much.”

    “Okay, I’m gonna have to ask you cool it with the nicknames for the time being. It’s honestly starting to come off as flirting.”

    “Ah, my apologies. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, _ma_ \- I mean, sorry Ann,” he dorkily flushed.

    They both shared a laugh before Morgana spoke up, “I get the feeling you won’t be explaining a lot of things.”

    “Well, not all at once. But in time, you have my word, I will eventually tell you my story. I promise, it’s a damn good one.”

    “...Hmph,” Morgana grunted, “Lady Ann was right on the money, you are over dramatic. Come on, let’s go get the bonehead before he gets himself into trouble.”

    As the three made their way to the safe room, Joker could hear Ann mutter to herself, “‘Lady Ann’?”

    "Just roll with it,” he whispered to her.

 

* * *

 

    _I have no idea where I am or how I got here,_ Ryuji thought to himself. In hindsight, he probably should’ve listened when Ren said to stay put. But that room had been really tiny, and he was bored! Besides, he was worried about Takamaki. He didn’t even want to think about what that rat bastard Kamoshida had planned for her. Anyways - Wait.

_What the fuck. Is that._

It was a green… Holy shit, he did _not_ need to see that!

_WHY THE FUCK IS THERE A GIANT DICK._

He didn’t know whether to run or hit the thing with his pipe!

_oH GOD OH GOD, IT’S LOOKING AT ME. AND IT’S COMING CLOSER. FUCK THIS._

He thought as he swung the lead pipe with all his might. The sound made when it made contact with the dick-monster was easily the most sickening thing he had ever heard in his life, and he immediately regretted all life decisions leading up to this moment. And to make things worse - because of fucking course they weren’t bad enough already - the thing started to _laugh._ Ryuji felt like throwing up, but he was honestly afraid this thing would enjoy that too.

“Oh, _god_ ,” he groaned. He started backing away as fast as he could without turning around, not at all willing to show this thing his back - and you know what, fuck that train of thought. He - and the monster, thank God - stopped when he heard a faint whistling in the air. Suddenly, with a very wet sounding _thunk_ , the thing started screaming, on account of the knife stuck in the place it’s face would be if it actually had one.

“And this, _mon Soleil,_ is why I told you to stay in the safe room,” he heard Ren’s voice call from behind him, and he had never felt more relieved in his entire life.

“You’re a pretty good shot with that,” he heard Takamaki’s voice, and scratch that, _now_ was the most relieved he had ever felt.

“Would you believe I’ve never actually thrown my knife before today?” Ren said as he and Takamaki both walked up alongside Ryuji. Ren clapped his hand on Ryuji’s shoulder.

“You okay, _mon Soleil?_ ” he asked, to which Ryuji just nodded.

“Sorry ‘bout not stayin’ put like you asked,” Ryuji apologized, rubbing the back of his head.

“Ah, it’s fine. Long as you’re not hurt, then all is well,” Ren said with a charming smile. Wait, _what?_

“I thought I said to stop that!” Takamaki said.

“You asked me to cool it with the nicknames, and I thought that was only with you,” Ren said. Ann just gave him a _look_.

“Fine, whatever, I’ll stop!” Ren stated, and Ryuji felt _really_ lost here.

“Hey, Ryuji,” Ren got his attention, “You think you could show Ann back to that safe room? I’ll just deal with this thing and we can get out of here.”

“Uhh, about that…” Ryuji said.

“You have no idea where the safe room is.”

“Not a clue, no.”

Ren sighed, “Alright, Morgana? Would you please - ?”

“I’m on it,” Morgana nodded, “Come on you two.”

As the three of them walked away, Ryuji leaned over to Takamaki.

“So, did what I think just happen, happen?”

“You mean Ren flirting with you? Yeah, that just happened,” she confirmed, “I get the feeling he’s pretty shameless when it comes to that.”

“Ah.”

* * *

 

The fight between that...thing had barely lasted a few minutes. Now he just had to make his way back to the safe room. Where his friends were. The friends that had no idea who he was, and that he had promised lengthy and non-evasive explanations to.

_Great._

As he had the thought, he stumbled a few steps, his vision blurring.

_What the hell?_

He shook his head, trying to fight it off, before tripping over his own feet and smashing his face into a nearby chair, smearing blood on it as it all but gushed out of his nose.

“Fuck, this is the, what, fourth time? Is this the Klutz timeline?” He asked hysterically while slowly getting back on his wobbly feet, clutching his bleeding nose as it ran over his lips.

“Well, this is gonna be fun to explain,” he said sardonically as he walked the rest of the way to the safe room and knocked on the door. Morgana answered it promptly.

“What took you so - WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOUR FACE?!”

“Fuck you too.”

At Morgana’s screech, Ryuji and Ann rushed over, saw his bloody nose, and quickly pulled him in and forced him into a chair, Ren letting out a deep sigh as he struggled to keep his eyes open.

“I owe you all an explanation, right? Gonna hafta shorten it a bit, because I’m feelin’ like shit.”

“Screw the explanation, what the hell happened man?” Ryuji demanded.

“Fought the metaphorical dick, killed the literal dick, and busted my nose on a chair on the way back. Also, I’m kind of having a hard time keeping my eyes open…?” He said just as they flutter shut for a second.  

“Hey!” Morgana said, “Don’t even think of passing out again!”

“You might have a concussion too, and it’s never a good idea to sleep with an injury like that,” Ryuji said.

Ren was quiet for a moment before responding, “Yeah I think you’re right. This is _definitely_ what a concussion feels like, that damn ringing is loud as ever,” He said before leaning over and groaning something about how that must’ve been the nausea kicking in.

“The fact that you know what a concussion feels like kind of worries me,” Ann said.

“Mmph,” Ren noncommittally muttered, “Have had worse. Infected wounds are shit, especially the ones caused by knives.”

The three just stared stared at him before Ann spoke up, “You, uh… You wouldn’t be opposed to us taking you to a doctor, would you?” She didn’t really want to fight him on this, but she most certainly would if she had to. Lucky she didn’t have to.

“Takemi is the only one I can afford, so be prepared for an hour where I might do something I most definitely won’t remember.”

“Uh...who’s Takemi?” Ryuji asked.

“Oh. Right. Yeah, she owns this small clinic by where I’m staying. She’s pretty much the only doctor I’ll trust, she also likes testing drugs on me.”

“I thought you just moved here?” Morgana said.

“Wait, what about drugs?” Ryuji asked.

“Well, fuck me twice, looks like delirium is setting in again, let’s move guys!” Ren said quickly before getting out the chair and immediately cringing, “Christ, why the hell is this room so bright? Wait- Nope, that’s the concussion.”

“Yeah, we should definitely leave,” Ann said.

“Yup.”

“Agreed.”

“The fuck is going on,” Ren sluggishly mumbled, before lurching forward and quickly rushing over to a corner, proceeding to upheave what little food he had eaten beforehand.

“Concussions suck more than I remember,” he groaned

“Exactly how many concussions have you had?” Ann asked while rubbing his back.

“Uhh… Hell I don’t know, you kind of stop counting how many times you get thrown into a wall.”

“You’ve been thrown into walls?!” Ryuji exclaimed

“Mmmmyep. The kids at thi- the school I used to go to really hated me, so you get the shit beaten outta you a couple of times,” he lied through his teeth.

“Oh. You meant...Nevermind.”

“Anyways, we should definitely start heading out, because I can literally see the light fading from the world, and I’m probably like, five seconds from passing out.”

“What?! Dude, you can’t -!” Ryugi growled in frustration before turning to Morgana, “Can’t you do that healing thing again? Dia?”

“No, it wouldn’t help this. The most a Dia would give him is a slight respite from his headache, I can’t cure a concussion.”

A loud thump echoes throughout the hall, Ren laughing in his head about the looks on their faces.

Like oh so many times before, the world faded from view…

And Ren found himself in a room of _bleu._

 

**The Velvet Room**

 

He heard a small voice, “You are an absolute idiot.”

“So good to see you care Lavenza, _ma Fée Bleue_.

“Don’t think sweet talk will get you out of this. You knew what would happen if you used Satanael’s power and you did it anyway!”

Ren nervously giggled. He could hear Igor chuckling from somewhere in the back.

“ **Ren.** Using this power will handicap you.”

“Metaphorically?”

“Literally. I hope you are a fan of asthma, and weak immune systems?”

“No, can’t exactly say I am.”

“Well that is exactly the path you’re going down! If you keep pushing your body like this, it may very well cease to function!”

“Oof, that’s not good...”

“WILL YOU TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY!”

“I swear I am.”

Looking closely, one could see that underneath his (utterly horrible) jokes, was fidgeting with his shirt, a mild tremble in his legs.

Sighing, Lavenza stated, “You really do need to learn how to take care of both your physical and mental health, starting with actually showing the state of such, instead of hiding it.”

“I...” He sighed, “I’m not good with this, am I?”

“Truly.”

He snorted.

“You have them, at the very least. You know they will listen if you ask.”

“Maybe, but I can’t exactly tell them why I haven’t had an actual night’s rest in over five years, can I?”

“You’ve always been good at lying. Perhaps use it for your gain instead of downfall for once, hm?”

“...You know, I’m getting tired of lying to them,” he said quietly. The attendant moved silently, sitting down beside him.

“You know I don’t mean them,” She quietly stated, “You lie the most to yourself. And it will be your end, same as the hearts you _steal.”_

And with that, the room faded out of view…

And awoke in _bleu._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I wasn't planning any romances when I started this, but the way this is going, at the very least people are getting Joker kisses.


	6. Chapter 6

**Yongen-Jaya**

**Tae Takemi’s Clinic**

****

“It’s not that bad, I _swear,”_ Ren tried to assure his friends.

“YOU PASSED OUT!” Ann screamed.

“Pshhh, I’ve done that, like what, four times now? It’s totally fine.”

“It’s absolutely _not_ fine,” Tae Takemi said cooly, “The mere fact that you admit to passing out, not once, _but four times,_ honestly makes me want to put you in a month-long coma!”

Ren nervously shrugged, an awkward smile on his face as he fidgeted with his shirt.

Takemi turned to Ryuji and Ann, “Thank you both for bringing him here, I’ll take over. You two can wait in the other room.”

Both teens nodded and did as she asked. After they were gone, the doctor leveled a downright glacial look at her patient.

“I’ve known you all of ten minutes and I can already tell you’re an idiot,” she said.

“Funny,” Ren said, “You are not the first person to say that to me today.”

“And that should tell you something, shouldn’t it?”

He snorted, causing her to glare at him even more.

“Sorry, you remind me of a friend I used to know.”

Takemi’s eyebrow raised at his statement, “Used to?”

 _Shit_.

He put his mask on again, “Yeah, we kind of...fell out of touch, in a way. She’d probably kill me for the crap I’ve done today.”

“Sounds like a good friend.”

He frowned.

“Yeah, she was,” he said, looking down.

Her glare softened as she watched him, “I apologize for prying.”

“No, it’s fine. Anyway, I assume you’ll be giving me some supplements, or something of the like, _ma_ _Guérisseur du Faucheur?_

“Well, you’re definitely going to need sleeping medication for - what did you just call me?” she asked, narrowing her eyes.

_Whoops._

“Uh, sorry. I’ve a bit of a bad habit of giving nicknames to people. I won’t do it again if it makes you uncomfortable.”

“No, it's quite fitting actually. Healer of The Reaper, was it?”

“You speak French?”

“I looked it up.”

“O-Oh,” He giggled at her bluntness.

She turned to her notes on her clipboard, “Anyway, as I was saying, you need some form of sleeping medication. That’ll take care of those bags under your eyes, and should help your immune system get back on its feet, so to speak. And it will hopefully help with you passing out,” She said while side-eyeing him, “If the issue persists, please contact me, as you could be narcoleptic.”

“I will Doctor Takemi, thank you,” He said while standing up, “Will that be all, or is there anything else?”

“No, that should be everything. Now get out of here, and don’t worry your friends like that again! They were completely frantic when they brought you in.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“...There's something you aren't telling me,” she accused.

He hesitated before answering, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Somehow I doubt that.”

He sighed, letting his mask slip but a little, “Look, don’t take it personally. It’s not just you I’m hiding something from.”

She had nothing to say to that. Ren waited a moment longer before walking to the door of the examination room -

_Tae had been devastated to hear about Miwa. She’d been completely inconsolable when the lie reached her, not even Ren could help her snap out of it. He set out to change that doctor’s heart, and had succeeded. But it was too late. He found a note in her clinic the day after that simply had the words “I’m sorry” written on it -_

Ren stumbled at the memory, just barely catching himself on the doorframe.

“Are you alright?” Takemi asked, looking up from her notes.

“...’M fine, just tired,” he said.

“Well, go home and get some sleep in that case.”

“Yeah, think I’ll do that.”

As he walked all he could think of was how _bleu_ the lips of the dead were.

****

**4/12**

**Morning**

****

“There is no way in hell you are going to school today,” Boss said sternly.

“Okay, but what if I asked _really_ nicely?”

“You woke up yesterday with a fever and didn’t tell me, became delirious on the way to school, had apparently passed out _four times_ over the course of the day, and you hit your head on the way down one of those times, gaining a _concussion,_ ” Sojiro said while counting on his fingers, “You aren’t going anywhere today.”

“Fair points, I suppose, but I can’t just not go, what if something important comes up?”

“You met those two kids, didn’t you? Ask to borrow their notes.”

_Not really what I was referring to Boss. And neither one of them are the best with notes anyway._

“Please?”

_“You have a concussion.”_

“I…” He wanted to say he’d had much worse than a light concussion, but he highly doubted Boss would believe him. Or worse, he would believe, and Ren would - in all likelihood - end up back in juvie by the end of the week, “Alright, you win. I’ll stay.”

“Finally!” Boss exclaimed, “Sheesh, never thought I’d meet a kid who fought so hard to go to _school.”_

 _The only kid_ **_you_ ** _know is Futaba. I’d like to see you react to Makoto._

    Ren snorted at the mental image of Makoto literally fighting his surrogate father. Boss raised his eyebrow, before ultimately deciding to drop it. Ren was staying, so he had nothing else to say to the alien child.

 _“I swear you’re weirder than Futaba,”_ he muttered while walking back down the stairs.

    “I seriously don’t know whether or not to be insulted by that,” Ren said after he’d left.

    “You are an idiot,” a boyish voice said from behind him. _Ah, there he is._

“What is it with people calling me that lately?” He asked while turning to his window to look at Morgana.

“Probably because you don’t do anything to discourage that notion of you,” Morgana said while scratching an ear, “You don’t seem all that surprised to see me.”

“I figured you’d show up eventually looking for answers.”

“Yeah, but are you actually going to give me any?”

“What's the magic word?”

“...Palace?”

“I was kidding, but okay. Ask away, I’ll answer what I can.”

Morgana scowled at him, “How did you know about me?”

“I’ve been working in the Metaverse for a long time now. You learn to keep an ear to the ground.”

“How long, exactly?”

“I stopped keeping track after a while, but it’s been a good few years.”

“...What was that Persona? I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Ah, I was wondering when you were going to ask that. Well, like I said yesterday, his name is Satanael. As for why he looked like that… My body isn’t exactly up to snuff currently. As it is, I can only use a fraction of my full power for less than a minute.”

“How is that even possible?”

“Let’s just say I have a very... _Strong_ sense of rebellion.”

“But how can a Persona be too strong for its wielder? I’ve never heard of something like that happening.”

“Well most people who hate the system this much aren't average teenagers.”

“... So why do you hate it so much?”

“Frankly, we don’t have the time for the full answer to that question. Long, _long_ story short, let’s just say I’m beyond sick and tired of those who abuse their power, and use it to subjugate those who can’t or won’t fight back.”

Something seemed to occur to Morgana, “Wait, you said your body wasn’t up to snuff ‘currently’ what does that mean?”

“That, _mon Petit Espoir,_ would be a very extreme case of those who abuse power.”

“What?” Morgana asked, confused.

“Look, I know I promised to tell you the whole story, but frankly I don’t want to tell it more then I have to,” Ren explained, hoping the cat would understand.

“I think I get it,” Morgana said, “So you’ll tell us everything when we’re all together?”

“You have my word that when we are fully assembled, I will tell you all my story.”

Morgana raised an eyebrow at his wording, but decided to let it go, chalking it up to a simple verbal intricacy no doubt. Ren almost flinched, but he did look away from Morgana, brows furrowing a bit.

“Suppose that’s about as good as I’ll get for now,” he relented.

Ren nodded, relaxing. “So were there any other questions, or…?” He cautiously inquired.

Morgana had an internal debate before looking him in the eye, “Are you the one causing the mental shutdowns?”

Ren actually did flinch at the question, turning back to Morgana with barely veiled look of shocked betrayal. He began to fidget with his shirt, a quirk quickly becoming a clear sign of distress in the boy.

“No! Why would you think that?”

“Based on what I saw yesterday, you could’ve easily killed Kamoshida’s Shadow, and you looked like you wanted to.”

_Haru hung from the ceiling, noose wrapped tight around her neck as she foamed from the mouth, eyes rolled into the back of her head. Her sparkling pink shoes were left neatly sitting in front of her, a note explaining why she decided that living had become too much for her-_

Ren clutched his head, keeling over as he stumbled backward, hitting the wall before sliding down to the floor. He quickly clasped a hand over his mouth as nausea hit him full force, before he threw up into it, drops falling through his finger and onto the floor. Morgana jumped back, fur sticking up in surprise.

“Holy- !” The cat exclaimed, his back arching, as Ren ran to the bathroom to empty his stomach. Sojiro came rushing at the sound of his retching, as Morgana just barely got out of sight.

“Damn it! You alright in there kid?” Boss called from the other side of the door. He could barely make out Ren groaning a half-hearted affirmative before heaving again.

“ _Bullshit_ ,” Boss muttered to himself. Out loud he said, “I’m going down to the clinic to get you some medicine,” and he left before Ren could protest, not like he could in the first place. After he was out of the building, Morgana came out of hiding, and waited as Ren stumbled back into his room, collapsing on his bed.

“I’m sorry,” Morgana said, “I didn’t -”

“No,” Ren said, his voice slightly muffled, “I’m not causing the shutdowns. But I know who is.”

“What?!” Morgana couldn’t stop his outburst.

“I said I know who’s causing the mental shutdowns,” Ren said, slowly sitting up on his bed, “And before you ask why I haven’t stopped him, it’s because I can’t right now. No one would believe me, hell, I’d probably get arrested for even thinking about it.”

“What about in the Metaverse?”

“First, I think we’ve established by now that I can’t use my full strength, and I’d need at least that to take him on by myself. Second, he’s a Persona user, so I can’t change his heart, no matter how much I’d like to.”

Morgana’s eyes widened at Ren’s revelation, “Another Persona user? Is...Is he as strong as you?”

“In terms of raw power, I’d say I probably have him beat, but he’s… Smart,” Ren growled begrudgingly, “Also, he’s really damn strong in terms of actual combat prowess.”

“You seem to know a lot about him.”

“It’s been brought to my attention that we’re very similar in a lot of ways. Being compared to him...bothers me sometimes.”

The air steadily grew more tense the more Ren spoke.

“...Mind if I change the subject?” Morgana asked eventually.

“Please.”

“What does _‘mon Petit Espoir’_ mean?”

“‘My Little Hope,’” Ren said, a tired smile on his face, like a mother would look at her child.

“...Why in the hell did you give me a nickname like that?”

Ren held a single finger up to his lips, smirking, all without speaking a word.

“...I don’t know why, but that annoys me. A lot.”

    Ren snorted, keeling over as he choked on his spit, coughing up a lung as Sojiro entered LeBlanc.

    “Kid, I’m back!” He called up, “The doc said to take these with water before eating anything.”   

    In a panic at the sudden noise, Morgana screeched and jumped into Ren’s arms out of fear. On instinct, Ren immediately wrapped his arms around Morgana, supporting his body as safely and comfortably as he could in the instant. This was the moment Sojiro walked up the stairs holding Ren’s medicine. He stopped and stared at the cat in his charge’s arms.

    “...You know I run a restaurant right downstairs, right kid?”

    Ren panicked, “I- I- He was outside, and he was hungry- I mean of course, he’s a stray-  Food! I gave him food, and he followed me,-” Ren sputtered out, volume lowering to an inaudible whisper of shame.

    Sojiro couldn’t help but laugh at the kid’s panic, “Alright, alright, settle down kid. Look, I’ll make you a deal. You keep him up here and out of trouble, and he can stay. Fine?”

    Ren nodded mutely, a small smile showing on his face as he blushed in further embarrassment.

    “Perfect,” Sojiro said, “Anyway, here’s your medicine. I’ll get you some water before I have to open today. You picked a name?”

    “Huh?” Ren looked up at his caretaker in confusion, tilting his head in sync with the cat in his arms.

    “For the cat,” Boss specified, holding back a chuckle at the scene, “Did you pick a name for him?”

    “Oh, it’s Morgana,” Ren answered.

    “...Isn’t that a girl’s name?”

    Morgana hissed at him.

    “Whoa!” Boss stepped back at the sound, “Jeez, sorry I guess.”

    “He’s just grumpy because he hasn’t eaten yet,” Ren frowned at the cat, muttering something inaudible to it, Morgana calming down afterward.

    “Well, I guess that makes sense. I’m not sharing the curry with it, but I think I might have something the little guy might enjoy. Wait here, I’ll go whip something up.”

    “Thanks dad,” Ren said.

    Sojiro jerked forward, coughing loudly as he leaned on the stair rail, eyes wide open in shock. Ren turned bright red after realizing his mistake.

    _SHITSHIT_ **_SHIT_ **

    “WAIT- UmMm, I didn’t mean, I-” He sputtered desperately

    “It’s… It’s fine, kid. Just try not to let it happen again, okay?”

    “...Yeah. Sorry,” Ren said. It would’ve sounded dejected to anyone who knew better.

    After he left, Morgana looked up at Ren, “Quick reflexes, by the way. That was an impressive catch.”

    Ren was quiet for a moment before sighing, “Thanks Morgana.”

    “...You know, you can put me down now.”

    Ren hesitated, before opening his arms to let Morgana down, “Sorry.”

    “Not a problem,” Morgana said as he stretched, “Was there anything else we needed to...Ren?” He asked as the boy looked strangely at the wall over his bed.

    “Is...everything okay?” Morgana asked.

    “It’s fine, don’t worry,” Ren assured, turning back to look at him, “So are you staying here tonight or would you rather go somewhere else?”

    “Well, according to the man downstairs, I’m a stray you adopted. Best to keep that cover story. Don’t want to cause any unnecessary grief down the line.”

    “Good point,” Ren said, “In that case, why don’t you take a look around the neighborhood, get your bearings?”

    “I think I’ll do that,” Morgana said, jumping for the window, “Don’t eat my food!”

    Ren snorted, smile returning to his face full force, “I won’t eat your food, now get going.”

    After Morgana left, Ren turned back to the wall. Or more specifically, the small microphone hidden _on_ his wall. It was very well hidden. If he didn’t already know where it was he’d have needed his Third Eye to locate it. Huh. When did she have time to set that up?

    _Ah well, might as well have some fun with her._

    “It’s not nice to eavesdrop, Alibaba.”

****

* * *

    A couple blocks away a young, introverted girl choked on her chips, violently coughing in a dark room full of figurines. She furiously began typing on her computer, sending a message to the guy living in Sojiro’s attic. How in the hell did he even know?! Sojiro didn’t even know she’d bugged the attic! And how the hell did he know her alias?! Was this dude psychic or something?

    “I’m not psychic, just very good at what I do.”

    “THE FUCK?!” She almost fell out of her chair in shock. By all the Forgotten Gods, just who in the hell was she dealing with?! She finished writing the message in a frenzy and sent it to his phone, making sure he couldn’t trace it back to her.

* * *

 

    Ren’s phone buzzed, a message from Alibaba

 **_Alibaba:_ ** _How did you know?_

    Ren chuckled, “You’re very good, I almost didn’t see the bugs. It just so happens that I’m very observant, and happen to be better at this than you are.

 **_Alibaba:_ ** _Better than me? At what, exactly?_

    “Well, I’ll admit that when it comes to cyberspace, there’s no one who could beat you. But we’re not in cyberspace. Like I already said, I’m just very good at what I do.”

 **_Alibaba:_ ** _And what exactly is it that you do, Ren Amamiya?_

“I sincerely hope you’re not trying to intimidate me with the full name thing.”

 **_Alibaba:_ ** _Speaking of names, how do you know mine?_

    “What, ‘Alibaba’? Just something I’d heard about before coming here. I put two and two together after learning a few key details.”

 **_Alibaba:_ ** _What “details”?_    

    “Secret,” The boy said coyly.

 **_Alibaba:_ ** _Hey, that’s my thing!_

“I’m not sure you can exactly trademark secrets.”

 **_Alibaba:_ ** _Sure, but I bet I know more of yours than you know of mine!_

Ren wasn’t sure how much she actually knew about him, as he was never able to convince her to tell him in the previous attempts. This would be… Interesting, to say the least.

 **_Alibaba:_ ** _You talk to your cat._

“It relieves stress.”

 **_Alibaba:_ ** _You have nightmares, bad ones, but you never tell Sojiro._

“...Didn’t realize I talk in my sleep.”

 **_Alibaba:_ ** _You’ve been through traumatic experiences…_

 **_Alibaba:_ ** _…_

 **_Alibaba:_ ** _Deaths._

He didn’t say anything for a while. Of course she would figure it out first.

 **_Alibaba:_ ** _Something triggered a bad memory earlier, which caused you to vomit. Also, gross. The drops are still there._

He eventually sighed, before speaking again, “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell anyone about that, Alibaba.”

 **_Alibaba:_ ** _Who exactly am I gonna tell?_

    “Sojiro.”

 **_Alibaba:_ ** _..._

    _Shit, too much._

    “After all, if you know my name, you probably know who my guardian is.”

 **_Alibaba:_ ** _Pshhhh, duuhhhh._

He internally sighed in relief, “But seriously. I’d rather this not get out.”

 **_Alibaba:_ ** _I promise. Pro tip though: Sleeping pills will help with those nightmares, but you’ll need something for the panic attacks._

    “I’ve got something for those.”

 **_Alibaba:_ ** _No you don’t._

 **_Alibaba:_ ** _You have a bottle of antacids and headache medicine._

 **_Alibaba:_ ** _Neither of which will help your current mental predicament._

“Why the sudden interest?” He asked.

 **_Alibaba:_ ** _…_

 **_Alibaba:_ ** _Kindred spirits, I guess._

“Alright, that’s it,” he was fed up with this charade.

 **_Alibaba:_ ** _What?_

He opened the Meta-Nav on his phone, “Futaba Sakura, self-imposed prisoner of Sojiro Sakura’s home, you have my word as leader of the Phantom Thieves, I will save you from your tomb.”

    The phone beeped, “ _Candidate found, please move closer to location to begin navigation._ ”

 **_Alibaba:_ ** _WAIT, WHAT?! HOW DO YOU KNOW MY NAME???_

He walked out LeBlanc and headed down the street. He might not be able to help Shiho today…

But he’s not ending today without his _Chère Sœur._


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks as always to Furious_Pines for helping beta and edit this
> 
> And thanks to all of you for the nice comments!

**Futaba’s Palace**

****

A large pyramid shined in the distance, the rays off the relentless sun beating down on it and any inhabitants, most of all the small town that sat around it. Jeez the Metaverse was weird sometimes; open the Nav outside Futaba’s room with her knowledge of what you’re doing, you end up miles upon miles away from the pyramid. Open it outside her house while she has no damn idea what you’re doing, you end up in the town about five minutes walking distance.

“Welp… I guess this makes it easier?” Ren muttered, removing his hoodie for use as shade, and to relieve some heat. He started trudging along to the pyramid, determined.

After about three minutes of walking, he considered that he may have jumped the gun a little, as the Morgana Van would have been pretty useful right about now. When he finally reached the pyramid, he felt about ready to pass out from the heat.

 _And I still have to climb the stairs in order to get some respite from this heat,_ he thought to himself. It was then his legs gave out from underneath him, weakened immensely from the miles he had to walk there, and the body melting heat.

“You alright, kid?” He heard a familiar voice from above. He looked up, and he saw Boss.

 _No, this isn’t him. Just her cognition of him,_ he thought. Well, this had certainly never happened before.

“Let me help you, son.”

_But God be damned if it didn’t feel great._

Unlike most cognitive shadows, this Sojiro Sakura didn’t look all that different from the one in the real world. Actually, excluding the Egyptian clothing, he was almost a carbon copy of Boss. Ren took Sojiro’s hand, leaning into it as he got up.

“You know,” Sojiro said, “You aren’t exactly dressed for walking in the desert.”

He chuckled, a kinda raspy, mellow sound.

Ren looked down, and saw that he was wearing the clothes of Joker. Oh. Well, that would actually explain why he was feeling a bit better. His rebellious spirit kept the heat of Futaba’s desert off of him.

“Actually,” Joker said, “These are the perfect clothes for what I’m about to do.”

“And what exactly is it that you’re about to do?” Sojiro asked with a small yet kind smile.

“Simple, _mon_ _Père,_ ” Joker said with his own smirk in place, “I’m going to steal the pharaoh’s heart.”

“Please don't flirt with her,” Sojiro narrowed his eyes at Joker.

“WAIT- NO- I didn't mean-”

Sojiro just chuckled.

“Help free her. She deserves better than this.”

“I will.”

“Thank you. Now let's get you something to eat beforehand, hm?”

“T- That sounds nice actually.”

Sojiro smiled at him and began walking before stopping and looking out into the distance.

“Something wrong Boss?” Joker asked.

“Do you hear something?” Sojiro asked, and now that he mentioned it, Joker could faintly hear something on the wind. It sounded really familiar but for the life of him he couldn’t pin down why.

“It’s getting louder,” Joker said, pulling his knife out just in case.

“No, not louder,” Sojiro said, “It’s getting _closer.”_

At that moment, Joker was accosted by a screaming three-foot-tall feline-esque missile powered by rage and the hope of humanity.

“WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU, YOU STUPID BASTARD?! YOU’RE JUST GETTING OVER A FEVER AND A CONCUSSION AND YOU DECIDE TO VENTURE INTO A DAMN _PALACE?!_ BY YOURSELF! AND IT’S NOT EVEN THE ONE WE KNOW ABOUT! NO, YOU HAVE TO GO AND FIND A WHOLE _NEW_ PALACE FULL OF CRAP WE HAVE NO IDEA ABOUT!” Mona screamed in his face while shaking his upper torso.

“MORGANA, CHILL!”

“FUCK YOU!!”

“Friend of yours?” Sojiro asked.

“Oh yeah, totally,” Joker said while Morgana glared daggers at him.

“Fuuuck yooooou,” Morgana hissed.

“Though, he does raise a good point. Are you sure you’re up for this?” Sojiro asked.

“No, he is _not,”_ Morgana said, “He passed out four times yesterday and he still has a concussion!”

“You know, I actually have an idea on how to fix that,” Joker said

“Oh yeah? And what _brilliant_ plan do you have now?” Morgana asked sarcastically.

“I’m going to walk over there and stare off into space.”

“What.”

With that, Joker walked over to the _bleu_ door, nodding to Lavenza before entering the Velvet Room, with her following close behind.

****

**The Velvet Room**

****

“Ah, welcome Trickster,” Igor said happily, “To what do I owe this visit?”

The room hadn’t changed all that much since his last visit. Still a dark blue prison, though there was an empty space where his cell’s door used to be. He noted that the Compendium was on a bookstand off to the side by the guillotines now. He strode up to Igor’s desk.

“I’m a little tired of not being able to fight using my Persona. I need a couple stand-ins so I can fight without nearly killing myself using Satanael.”

“Yes, I can see where that would cause issue. Lavenza dear, please help this young man with what he needs.”

“Of course, Master,” Lavenza said, bowing to Igor, “Trickster, follow me please.”

They both walked over to the Compendium. Lavenza opened the book and began leafing through the pages.

“I still have a hard time believing it,” she said, “From my perspective, we met only days ago, yet you already have a full Compendium of Personas.”

“I wear a lot of masks.”

“Indeed you do. Speaking of, were there any specific masks you were looking for?”

“Well, to begin with, I need one of my best healers. Probably Cybele or Ishtar, someone who has Salvation.”

“Looking to get rid of your illness?”

“That, and it’s just always a good idea to have a healer.”

“I hope you have the required fee.”

Joker snapped his fingers, “Right, thanks for reminding me,” and he reached his hand out into empty space. It disappeared, yet he looked like he was rummaging around.

“Oh!” Lavenza exclaimed, “I didn’t realize you knew how to make a pocket dimension like that.”

“It’s not all that impressive,” Joker said as he pulled the money he would need to summon the Personas he needed, “It’s barely bigger than a large safe. I figured out how to do it a while back, it’s a pretty useful trick for carrying money.”

“And weapons,” Lavenza added.

“And weapons,” Joker agreed, before his head snapped up and his eyes widened, “Weapons… oh _shit._ ”

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m an idiot is what’s wrong,” Joker said, smacking his forehead.

“We’ve long since established that, but why are you an idiot this time specifically?”

“I forgot to give Ryuji his weapons and armor after he Awakened yesterday,” he said, already pulling out his knife Paradise Lost, along with his pistol, the God of a Thousand Demons.

 _Who the hell names these things anyway?_ He thought while testing the weight of his weapons.

“Impressive,” Lavenza said.

“Thanks. Took me a long time to make them. Well worth the effort though,” Joker said while twirling the knife and putting the pistol in his coat pocket.

“I assume your compatriots will be receiving similar gifts?”

“ _Oui,”_ Joker nodded, “Anyway, shall we?” He gestured to the Compendium.

“Yes, of course.”

****

 

**Futaba’s Palace**

 

    “He’s been like that for a while,” the cognitive version of Ren’s guardian said, “Is he alright?”

    _I should probably learn this guy’s name before we leave, huh?_ Morgana thought to himself.

    Out loud, he said, “I’ve only known him for a little over a day, I don’t know if this is normal or not.”

“Hey guys!” Joker suddenly called.

“OH SHIT, SON!” Sojiro manly screamed.

“FUCK!!” Morgana screeched.

“WHOA, JEEZ!” Joker flinched back, “What’s wrong?!”

“You can’t just _do_ that!” Morgana yelled

“Do what?”

“I will actually disown you Ren.” Sojiro threatened

“You haven’t even adopted me yet!”

“Don't make me not adopt you.”

“I… I have no idea what to say to that.” Joker said.

“What were you even doing?” Morgana asked, “You were staring off into space for like ten minutes.”

“Oh, right. You know how I can’t use Satanael without some really powerful physical backlash?”

“Yeah…?”

“Well, that’s not exactly helpful for anyone, so I got some different Personas so I could actually fight. Which reminds me,” He said while reaching for his mask.

“Wait, you did _what?!”_ Morgana screeched

“Cybele!” Joker called, and a blue goddess wielding twin swords appeared above him. Morgana’s eyes widened in awe and wonder.

“ **Salvation!** ” Joker cast, and a bright white light surrounded and went into him. Once the spell had finished, Joker visibly seemed much better than he’d been a few minutes ago. He was standing straighter, his eyes cleared of any fogginess, and a neat little bounce returned to his step.

“Finally!” Joker exclaimed, doing a little hop of joy, “Oh, that feels so much better!”

“Wha… What did-” Morgana stuttered.

“Right, sorry Mona. Cliffnotes version: I have something called the Wild Card, meaning I can wield any Persona I can form a contract with.”

“That’s… That’s incredible! I’ve never even heard of something like that!”

“Why thank you!~” Joker all but sang.

“You seem lively,” Sojiro commented.

“Oh you have _no idea_ Boss. I’ve been bedridden basically since I got to Tokyo, and I’m finally back in action.”

“Wait, but what about your body?” Morgana asked, “Won’t you get sick again?”

“None of the Personas I have are anywhere near Satanael’s power, they won’t affect me as strongly as he did. The most I’ll have to deal with is some exhaustion at end of the day, nothing a good night’s sleep won’t fix.”

“Well that's good, son!” Sojiro praised, and _Christ_ that filled an empty space, deep in his heart.

“I think I'm ready,” Joker said, turning to the pyramid

“Hell no! We need reinforcements-”

“Goodbye Morgana~”

“WAIT, DON’T LEAVE ME!!” Morgana raced after him, grabbing Ren’s arm.

“You will NOT ditch me!”

Ren just looks down and smiles, happy to spend more time with one of the thieves, Mona being one of the ones he hangs out with the most.

“I was kidding, Mona.”

“‘Mona’? Come to think of it, you called Ryuji ‘Skull’ back in those dungeons. What gives?”

“Codenames. I tend not to use real names when working in the Metaverse. Best not to tempt fate, you know?” Joker reasoned.

“So you use codenames to get around that. Clever,” Mona admitted, “But why ‘Mona’? Surely there’s a better codename we can use for me. And what’s yours?”

“You can call me Joker and if it’s all the same to you, I think I’ll stick with Mona. It’s already in my head, and changing codenames in the middle of a mission is just plain unprofessional, wouldn't you agree?” He smirked.

Morgana sighed, “Yeah, I guess you're right.”

Ren smiled and crouched down, gently patting Mona on the head.

“By the way Mona, could you do me a favor and turn into a car?”

“The fuck?”

_I do not remember him having this dirty a mouth._

“Come on, I know you can.”

“Well yeah, I can, but how did _you_ know about that?”

“Seemed a pretty reasonable leap in logic; cat, bus, you can see where I got the idea.”

“No, no I don't, what the hell is going on in your head?!”

“You mean aside from the multiple Personas? Which reminds me, if by some miracle you end up with a Wild Card, _do not_ use Rangdi and Barong at the same time, you will never know peace.”

Mona was looking at him like he’d grown a second head and three pairs of arms.

 _“What the hell is wrong with you?”_ he whispered.

Joker leaned in, whispering, _“Everything,”_ and he suddenly leaned back and laughed to the sky.

Morgana silently screamed.

Joker quickly stopped laughing, “But seriously, I’m getting over 48 straight hours of fever and delirium, I’ve been a little subdued and it all got bottled up. I’m mostly just venting right now.”

“How in the hell were you more coherent when you were sick?!”

“Because when I was sick, I was focused on being not sick, not my usual thing of baffling people with my bullshit,” Joker smiled.

“Joker?”

“Yeah Mona?”

“I am suddenly very terrified.”

“Then you’re learning, _mon Petit Espoir_.”

“Can we please just enter the pyramid?”

“Sure Mona.”

Joker stopped and thought for moment, “You know, thinking about it now, I may have really jumped the gun here.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, while I can conceivably take on just about anything this Palace has to offer, you most certainly cannot. And I definitely can’t do this alone, I’d burn myself out before I even made it halfway to the treasure chamber.”

“Do you have extra weapons handy?”

“Oh, that’s right! Jeez, sorry Mona I don’t know why I keep forgetting this stuff,” Joker said as he reached out into his Metaverse wallet. Mona’s eyes widened again.

“Uhh… Joker?”

“Literally magic.”

“Ok then.”

He quickly found the weapons he’d set aside for Mona, the scimitar Claíomh Solais and the slingshot Dreamstone II.

“Here you go, these should suit you nicely,” Joker said, handing over the weapons.

“J- Joker, I don't know what to say! These are amazing!”

“Just don’t get yourself killed,” He said seriously.

“What?”

“Just… Stay safe, ‘kay Mona?”

“O...kay? I mean I’ve been doing this for a while, so you really don’t have to worry about me!” He said haughtily, “It’s that bonehead who you should be worrying about.”

“I’ll be arming him too, next time we’re in Kamoshida’s Palace. I’ve got a pretty good idea of what’ll work best for him.”

“Good to know.”

“Anyway, come on. There’s something I want to take care of before we leave.”

“Wait, what?” Mona asked, “I thought you said-”

“We can’t steal the Treasure yet, but there’s someone I want to talk to first.”

Joker started making his way up the stairs, Mona following behind. They entered the pyramid, getting blasted in the face with air conditioning. Mona looked in confusion at the numbers floating like dust in the air.

“What is this?” He asked.

“It’s code,” Joker answered, “Futaba Sakura is a computer genius. Code comes as easily to her as French does to me.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” A young voice said from in front of them. She’d appeared as if from out of thin air. Not all that surprising of course. She was the ruler here after all. Ren smiled at her.

 _“Bonjour, ma_ _Chère Sœur.”_

“Greetings… **Anubis.”**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blutstrom: Oh boy, two Palaces at the SAME TIME! No possible way for this to go horribly awry!
> 
> J.J./Furious_Pines: psshhhhhh, everything's fiiiinnnneeeee, no angst here, no sir, none at all, definitely not going to sob all over my keyboard, nope.


	8. Chapter 8

“Oh?” Joker said, raising an eyebrow.

 _“Is she talking to you?”_ Mona leaned over to whisper.

 _“Looks that way,”_ Joker answered.

“Guardian of the dead, have you finally arrived to take me away from here, in return for my mother’s life?”

 _Ah, now I see,_ Joker thought sadly, _Better make this convincing._

“Not today child, for your mother does not want this, nor is it a fair trade.”

Futaba frowned at him, “Then why have you come here?”

“I have come to set things right, and rid you of the thing that pretends to be her, as it is insulting to the dead, and myself. I made a promise, after all.”

Her eyes widened, “You mean…?” She vaguely pointed upwards

He nodded, and began walking towards her slowly, “I do. That thing up there is not your mother, and I will not stand for what it represents, nor for how it has treated you, _ma_ _Chère Sœur,”_ He stopped directly in front of her, placing his hands on her shoulders. Pressing his forehead to her’s, he sighed, “You deserve to be able to come home without fear, and leave as you please.”

“Who...who are you?” She asked, and it seemed as if the pharaoh act had broken down somewhat. Now all there was was a scared girl in desperate need of help.

“Oh _Chère…_ I am just a simple thief, come to take that which hurts you the most. You have my word, before this month has run its course, you will be free of this tomb.”

“How do I know you’re not lying? How do I know you’ll do as you say?” She asked quietly, tears were starting to fall from her eyes.

“I give you both my name and my word. I am Ren Amamiya, the Joker, Leader of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, and I swear on my life I will steal your heart.”

She chuckled wetly before stepping away from him, “That’s a bit of a lame name, isn’t it?”

He smiled at her, “Anything that makes you laugh isn’t quite that lame, now is it?”

“Why are you being so nice to me? You don’t even know me,” She said.

“I know you better than you think. Like the other you said in the real world, we’re kindred spirits, in a way.”

She sniffed, and dried her eyes, “You promise you’ll help me?”

“Honestly I’d like nothing more to help you right now. But unfortunately I can’t take on this place, or the thing upstairs, all by myself. I have some friends. We’ll get stronger toppling a corrupt king, and then we’ll come back here to help you.”

“A king?”

“A jackass who doesn’t deserve his crown.”

“Oh. Have fun storming the castle, in that case,” she said with a small wave.

Ren smiled, “I will.”

As he turned and walked out of the pyramid with Mona in tow, the world faded into _bleu._

 

**The Velvet Room**

 

“I see you’ve redecorated,” Joker commented.

“Not I,” Igor said, “Your heart has simply changed too much not to accommodate for it.”

Where once there was a dark prison, now was a well-lit hallway that seemed to go on forever, with hundreds of doors on either wall. The walls were still a royal blue, and the carpet had a swirling black and blue pattern. The doors on the left wall were all quite beautiful, varnished wood, polished to a shine, or covered in colorful photos and stickers. The doors on the right were in stark contrast. Some were burnt black, others looked as if a giant clawed beast had tried to get in, and others still were simply wood scraps hanging on to their frames with the poorest excuses for hinges. Ren looked himself over, and instead of the usual stereotypical prison garb, he was now wearing his usual casual clothes of a long sleeve shirt and some comfortable sweatpants.

“How about you take a look around before getting down to business, hm?”

Ren looked around and shook his head, “I’ve got a pretty good idea what’s supposed to be behind those doors, I’d prefer to keep my head where it is, if it’s all the same to you.”

“Maybe, but there is only so much the human brain can hold. Perhaps you might find something you lost? Just a peek cannot hurt.”

Ren paused, before he sighed, “I guess you… Have a good point.”

He looked at the doors around him, debating which one to open first. He eventually decided on a door on the left. It was dark green, and covered in Featherman stickers. He opened it up and walked in, and saw something he didn't think he'd see for a long while.

 

* * *

 

It was an older timeline, probably his third or fourth attempt. He’d entirely focused on Futaba, wanting to build as close of a kinship with her as possible. Nothing romantic, of course,  but a familial bond. He had become pretty close with Sojiro as well as a result. They took the place of his previous family deep within his heart, and it had stuck for many timelines, even up to now.

He remembered this day well. Futaba had said he looked tired, so she proclaimed that day as a “Lazy Day” and commandeered his room and TV for a day full of her favorite movies and snacks. They talked and laughed all through the day, and Ren learned more about the Featherman franchise than he ever thought possible.

In the memory, they were sitting down in a blanket nest they had both constructed, laughing at the admittedly cheesy effects and acting of one of the earlier Featherman iterations, while snacking on some KFC.

“Literally nothing is better than Chicken Poppers.”

“Please, you can’t beat some Spicy Boneless wings.”

“At least we both agree bones suck.”

“Totally. Why waste time picking around bones when you can just chomp right into it?”

“Agreed- Oh wait, this is the best part!”

“Shh, shhhhhh!!”

 

* * *

 

Ren backed out of the memory, walking back into the Velvet Room. He discreetly wiped a few tears away from his eyes, and he couldn’t seem to keep a small smile off of his face.

“...Thank you,” He said to Igor.

“You’ve no need to thank me, Trickster, this is your Velvet Room, and these are all your memories.”

“Still, thank you. I didn’t know how much I needed that,” he admitted. He looked around the hallway again, before something occurred to him, “Hey, where’s Lavenza?”

“She is currently working on new methods of combining Personas for you. After all, guillotines, gallows, and electric chairs don’t quite fit the aesthetic here now, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Definitely. Honestly, I’m glad to be see those things go, they were pretty… Disturbing… To say the least.”

    “I’m here,” Lavenza said, walking up to them, “And I have completed creating new methods of fusion for your Personas,” She said proudly.

    “Awesome,” Ren said, “So what exactly am I doing now?”

    “Well, we’ll use these for strengthening and itemizing your Personas,” she said while pulling two padlocks seemingly from nowhere. One lock was gray, and almost comically large, it was bigger than Lavanza’s torso. The other was almost bone white small, delicate, almost fragile looking.

    “Would you like to test them?” the attendant asked. He got the feeling she really wanted him to test them, as she was smiling and bouncing on her feet a little.

    “Sure, why not?” He mentally went over which Personas he had on him, deciding which ones to use.

    “Uh, okay, let’s use Michael to strengthen Zaou-Gongen.”

    “Excellent choice. Come with me, we’ll begin the process at the appropriate door.”

    Ren followed Lavenza to a pristine white door. Standing outside it, the two Personas Ren had chosen were already waiting for them. They both nodded to him, before Michael walked inside as Zaou-Gongen waited just outside.

    Practically hopping over, Lavenza slammed the large silver lock over the door handle, tugging on it twice before she turned to give a thumbs up to Zaou-Gongen, who returned the gesture. She knocked on the door twice before backing away and folding her hands together in front of her as the door began to shudder. It suddenly burst open, lock shattering into blue wisp and merging with the same wisp that came out of the room, until it finally entered into Zaou-Gongen.

    “Well, that’s certainly more entertaining than an electric chair,” Ren commented.

    “Yes, I thought so as well,” Lavenza said with a smile, “Certainly better than shuffling a few cards around!”

    _Cards?_

    “Where did you find the locks?” Ren asked, choosing to ignore her comment.

    “I made them.”

    “You are a good craftswoman.”

    “Why thank you,” she said with a curtsy, “Now, would you like to see the itemization and fusion processes as well?”

    “Not right now, thanks. I really should get back to dealing with Kamoshida and helping Ryuji and Ann.”

    “Ah, of course. Well no matter, they’ll still be here if and when you need them. I’m particularly excited for a mass fusion...” She said before trailing off into further ideas she had for his Velvet Room.’

    “I’m looking forward to it,” He said as he made his way back to the entrance. He stopped in front of the simple wooden door at the beginning of the hallway. This door wasn’t on either the left or the right side.

    “Oh, I get it,” Ren said, “This is supposed to be the current timeline, right?”

    “It would appear so,” Igor said, “I’m quite curious to see how this door will change over the coming year.”

    “Hmm,” Ren grunted noncommittally, and he walked through his door.

 

    **Leblanc**

**Afternoon**

 

    Ren woke up in his bed. Wait, hadn’t he just been down the road? He should’ve come into reality outside Boss’ house, how did he end up back here? He looked over and saw a note sitting on his desk. He got up and opened it. It was from Lavenza - 

    _Dear Trickster,_

_I took the liberty of putting an entrance to the Velvet Room in your domicile. I felt this would avoid any unnecessary strife with your caretaker, at least until his attitude becomes more agreeable towards you._

_Best wishes,_

_Lavenza_

“Well, thank you Lavenza,” Ren muttered just as Morgana crawled in through the window.

    “There you are!” Morgana said, “When you didn’t come out of the Palace with me, I got worried!”

    “Sorry, I don’t know what happened,” Ren said, “One minute, I’m walking out of the pyramid with you, the next I’m in here.”

    “I’m not even gonna ask...” Morgana sighed.

    “Anyways, you must be tired,” Morgana stated, “Let’s go to sleep.”

    _Oh sweet Heaven above, no. It’s already starting._

“Goodnight Morgana.”

    “Night Ren.”

    And as he fell asleep, he admired the night sky in all it’s _bleu._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Furious: Don't worry folks! It gets angstier!
> 
> Blutstrom: I was very happy writing Lavenza with actual excitement. 10 bonus points to whoever guesses the new fusion method!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/447225573383602177/452685436268183553/Screenshot_840.png

**4/13**

__ **Morning**

 

“It’s just medicine,” Ren whispered to himself as he approached Takemi’s office. He had gotten permission to be a bit late to school after (mostly) explaining the situation to Sojiro.

As he walked in, Doctor Takemi looked up and she scowled, “Tell me you aren’t here because you passed out again.”

“Ah, no I’m not, this is different,” Ren said while fidgeting a little with his shirt, frowning as he looked at the floor, avoiding her gaze, “There, um, was something I didn’t tell you last time...”

“According to you, there was a lot you didn’t say,” Takemi pointed out, “What’s special about this?”

Ren flinched, resulting in Takemi softening her glare.

“Go on.” 

“I’m having trouble with anxiety, it’s just… No matter what I do, there’s always a part of me saying, ‘You’re gonna fuck up, something’s gonna go wrong, and it’s gonna be your fault,’ and I just… I can’t deal anymore.”

“Hmm,” Takemi said, “Your friends mentioned something not unlike a panic attack the other day. Is this related?”

“Y- … Yes,” he admitted quietly.

“I see. Well, I should have something for you around here, but I’ll have to prescribe you first. You might not get the right pills the first time, as it’s hard to find something that works for everyone, seeing as there are different causes and side effects. Do you have any idea what might be the cause of your anxiety, or has it just always been like this?”

_ Oh, I know exactly what’s causing this, but I doubt you’ll believe me right off the bat. _

“Don’t even try to lie to me, I can tell by your increased fidgeting. You may have one hell of a poker face, but your hands give you away.”

Ren flinched again, his mask slipping away, until all that was left was his fear.

“I- Um- A l- lot of people v- very close to me died, be i- it recently or a l- long time ago,” He cringed at his stuttering, trying hard to stay calm, “S- Sometimes in front of m- me.”

_ Most times in front of me. _

Takemi’s eyes widened at the revelation. She opened and closed her mouth, probably looking for the right words.

“I… I don’t-” She started.

“I-it’s fine, really,” He said.

“No, it’s really not. But, what exactly is it that you’re looking for here? Those sleeping meds I gave you should help with any nightmares, but I’m not exactly equipped to deal with PTSD. You need a therapist.”

“...I only told Soj- my guardian that I need medication for anxiety.”

“That’s not nearly good enough. It might help stave off the panic attacks and generalized anxiety, but for something like that you’ll want more than medicine, considering you’re already on sleeping medication. Too much, and it could have some serious side effects, especially considering how hard it might be on your liver.”

“My...liver?”

“Pills are hard for your liver to filter out, and if you take too many, it could strain it. That could result in internal bleeding. Of course, this is all the absolute worst case, and fairly unlikely.”

“I… I still can’t tell my guardian. It’s hard enough to tell you about this.”

“...Fine. Let me see what I have in my stocks.”

She rolled over to a fairly large shelf, quickly looking through the middle most row of it. Looking closely at one bottle in particular, she picked it up and rolled back over.

“This is Sertraline, or Zoloft. I can prescribe you this for ‘anxiety,’ but it should still help with PTSD, as that is one of it’s  _ intended _ uses. Visit me at the end of the week to report how it’s working, specifically any new or worsening symptoms. Call me  _ immediately  _ if you feel fever, anything wrong with your heart or muscles, memory problems, or seizures,” She lectured him, making sure he was paying absolute attention, “On a less serious note, you might feel changes in weight, appetite, or attitude. Once again, you will report  _ any and all _ symptoms to me by the end of the week.  _ Am I clear? _ ”

“Y- Yes ma’am.”

Takemi relaxed, “Good. Now give me a minute to write you up a prescription.”

Ren sighed, glad to have the conversation part of the appointment finally over. As Takemi handed over a small brown bag with a prescription note stapled to it, she said one last thing:

“I know a therapist who owes me a few favors. Legally he’s supposed to give you one free session, but I can get him to up that number to three. After that it’s all up to you to pay. I put his address in the bag with the pills.”

“I… I’ll check him out.”

“See that you do. Now get going, it’s a school day.”

“Yes ma’am,” he said, and walked out the door. He spent the walk to the train station fixing his mask back into place. Popping a pill into his mouth, he dry swallowed it, before walking into the train. When he arrived at school, he quickly walked to Ms. Kawakami’s class, handing her a note Takemi wrote to inform the teachers of any medical emergencies or more minor things to look out for, and a note Sojiro wrote explaining why he was late.

“Hmm. _ Never would've guessed,”  _ She mumbled to herself, a strangely sad look on her face, “Alright, let me update the attendance sheet. Go ahead and take a seat Amamiya.”

_ “Merci, _ Madam Kawakami,” Ren quietly spoke, a small smile on his face

_ “Has he been sick?” _

_ “Wonder why he was late.” _

_ “Jeez, he’s tall.” _

_ “Yep, he is actually French.” _

“Amamiya returned late due to a doctor’s appointment, now chill it with the side comments, would ya?”

Keeping his head down, he quickly shuffled back to his seat, sitting down as quietly as he could. He had trouble paying attention to the lecture, which wasn’t normal.  _ What did Takemi tell me to call her for? Shit, I can’t remember. It’s just trouble concentrating though, it’s probably fine. _ Shaking his head, he tried his hardest to get down what little notes he could. He apparently wasn’t as good as he’d thought, because halfway through the class, his phone vibrated in his pocket.

**_Ann:_ ** _ Are you okay? _

**_Ren:_ ** _ I’m fine, I promise. Just a little tired. _

It wasn’t exactly a lie, as it was getting pretty tiring to have to try so hard to concentrate. Fuck, this was gonna make training with Ryuji damn near impossible. And he felt like he was forgetting something. It had actually been nagging at him since he woke up.

_ Shit, I hope it comes back to me later. It feels important somehow. _

Ren sighed, frustrated. Suddenly, the bell rang, making him jerk violently.

“Class is over already…? The hell?”

_ Huh. Must be more out of it than I thought. Better get it together for Skull’s training and crash course. _

The next few hours passed in a bit of a blur for Ren. He remembered meeting up with Ryuji and Ann, explaining to Ann why it wasn’t safe for her to come back to Kamoshida’s Palace with them without a Persona, giving Skull his weapons, teaching him how to fight, demonstrating his Wild Card abilities, then… he was in Leblanc.

He blinked in surprise and looked around.

“Are you okay?” Morgana asked from his bag.

“When...did we get back?” Ren asked.

“Uh, just now? What’s wrong?”

Ren shook his head, “Nothing. I guess I’m just exhausted.”

“That would make sense,” Morgana agreed, “We did a lot today.”

_ We did? Why can’t I remember? _

“G… Goodnight Morgana.”

A couple blocks away Takemi shuddered, dropping and spilling a bottle of pills, all of which the color of  _ bleu. _


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double update, yay! For reasons you will NEVER KNOW.

**4/14**

**Morning**

 

Ren awoke slowly, but his head felt clearer than it had the previous day. He still had that nagging feeling in the back of his head that he’d forgotten something, but at this point he couldn’t dwell on it. It would come to him when it came to him. There wasn’t much he could do otherwise. He grabbed the bottle of Zoloft and walked down the stairs to get a drink to take it with, as dry swallowing turned out to be _absolutely horrible._ He subconsciously grabbed the tools and ingredients to start the morning brew. He _needed_ some coffee right now. The whole process actually helped relax him quite a bit. He was just finishing up a cup for himself and Sojiro when he heard the bell over the door ring. It was at that moment he realized his mistake.

“WHAT IN THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!” Sojiro roared, and god _damn it all_ it was too early for this.

“I needed coffee,” Ren answered quietly.

“So go to the market and buy some! What the hell made you think you could use _my_ equipment to make subpar crap like that?!” Sojiro growled, stalking up to the bar to stare Ren down.

Ren’s eyes flashed at Sojiro’s words. _Subpar crap?_ Sojiro may have had no way of actually knowing Ren’s skills, and Ren may have loved the man like his father, but that still _really_ ticked off the barista in him.

“Try some,” Ren said, pushing the cup he’d set aside forward.

“What?!”

“I said,” He scooted it closer, “Try some. You want to insult me like that, I’d very much like the chance to make you eat those words. Or, you know, drink them,” He said with a smirk.

“You cheeky little shit. Fine then,” Sojiro scoffed, grabbing the cup and lifting it to his lips, “I’ll _try some._ ”

* * *

  
Sojiro took a sip of the kid’s coffee. He fully intended to give this little punk a real scolding over this. Using the equipment without permission? And worse, without proper training?! What the hell was this little punk thinking, making shit like this in _his_ cafe? Kid wanted to talk about insults when he pulled this? Who the hell did he think he was?

And then he actually tasted it. It was...absolutely delicious. No, better than that, it was _perfect._ Exactly the way he liked his morning cup. No… It was actually even better?!  Sojiro placed the cup down in a daze. He slowly turned to Ren, who was visibly trying to keep a lid on that smirk.

“How in the…?”

“My dad taught me,” Ren said with a smile.

“Kid, I’ve met your dad, and I’m pretty sure he never made a cup like this.”

“Not him,” Ren said before his eyes widened in realization, “Wait- No- I mean- Shit.”

    Sojiro raised an eyebrow at him as his charge started fidgeting with his shirt, something he had come to recognize as a clear sign of distress in the child. He felt for the kid. After all, who’d want anything to do with a father who essentially left him with a stranger, especially for something that wasn’t even his fault?

    “Look, I… Never mind, I gotta get to school. Just needed a little pick-me-up.”

    Sojiro shrugged, “Alright, guess I’ll see you later than.”

    Ren nodded and walked around the counter to leave. Just before he pulled the door open, Sojiro called out to him.

    “Hey kid.”

    Ren turned to look at him. Sojiro raised the coffee cup with a small smile.

    “Thanks for the coffee.”

    Sojiro saw something flash in the kid’s eyes, too fast for him to identify, before he thanked him and walked out, flipping the sign to ‘Open’. He decided to let it go, and walked around the counter. He then saw the untouched cup of coffee where the kid had been standing.

* * *

 

    _Well that was embarrassing. I really hope he doesn’t realize I was talking about him. That comment alone should cause more problems than I need right now._

Ren sped-walked to the train station, just wanting to get through today and make some more progress in the Palace. They’d stuck to the lower floors, mostly to help Ryuji gain some experience, and also because they needed to wait for Ann, not that Ryuji or Morgana knew that.

One day of classes and dodged chalk later, Joker found himself in a Palace hallway, taking out Jack O’Lanterns and Hua Po’s when Skull felt the need to make small talk to pass the time in a safe room.

“So, how’re things goin’ for ya? Adjusting to the city all right? You're from out in the country, after all. Gotta be strange for ya.”

“Oh, yeah, I'm adjusting fine, thanks. Biggest pain is the subway lines,” Ren scoffed.

_Those are still a pain in the ass._

“Yeah, I hear ya. Lived here my whole life and I still get lost sometimes. Still, better than school.”

“Eh, it's not all bad.”

“Are you kiddin’? With all the rumors flyin’ around I'd’ve thought you’d be more annoyed. You hear what they say about you?”

“I’m used to them. My… Previous school didn’t like me all that much. Compared to that, being the 'sick French kid’ isn't all that bad.”

“I guess I see your point. Still, I think you and I could use a break. What do ya say we hang out on Sunday? I could show you the arcade and the best places for food!” He said with a grin.

Ren laughed, “I'd like that. Sunday it is.”

Morgana scoffed, “I hope you two don't spend the interim three days goofing off.”

“What was that?!”

As Ryuji and Morgana descended into bickering, something about what Morgana said struck a chord with Ren.

_Three days._

Three days before Sunday would be Thursday, which would mean…

_Oh-_

**_“FUCK!”_ **

Ren launched out of his chair with a look of absolute horror and rage. His friends leapt back in shock.

“Joker?” Morgana asked, but he wasn't heard. Joker kicked open the door to the safe room, and started a mad dash to the Palace entrance, berating himself the whole way.

“God, no, I’m such an utter _fuck up,_ how could I let this _happen-_ ”

A few Shadows stood against him, but they weren't even speed bumps to him with the state he was in, panicked and furious.

“How in the _FUCK_ could I possibly forget _THAT?!”_

Skull and Mona were running behind him, trying to keep their leader in sight. They wanted to get closer, but they honestly feared for their own safety.

“She didn’t deserve this, I was going to _save her,_ but because I’m the _fucking WORST-_ ”

Joker brutally tore into one Shadow in particular, stabbing it in the neck before bludgeoning it with the back end of his knife.

_“SHE HAS TO SUFFER!"_

“Joker what are you talking about?! Who has to suffer?” Mona cried once Joker finally reached the courtyard outside. He was breathing heavily.

“Skull,” he said, “I need you to be on call tomorrow. We aren't going to class.”

“Dude, I can’t just skip-”

“WE’RE NOT GOING TO FUCKING CLASS!” Ren snarled viciously.

Ryuji flinched, “Jesus! Okay, okay man, just calm down! I'm on your side!”

Ren tried to calm down before speaking again, “I- I'm sorry. I just… I need you at the top of the stairs tomorrow, after morning bell. Don't let _anyone_ get on that roof.”

“Uh… Okay? What's going on here man, you're freakin’ me out.”

“What’s happening is I'm a complete _fuck up_ , and now someone else is going to pay the price for it. I’m going to make _goddamn_ _sure_ that doesn't happen.”

Ren could feel his breathing speed up, his heartbeat hammering in his ears.

 _“Fuck,_ I forgot to take ‘em,” He realized as he felt a panic attack coming on. He quickly backed away from Ryuji, taking out his phone with trembling hands.

“Take what? What is going on?!”

“I need- We need to leave. Now.”

Ren quickly pulled up the MetaNav-

* * *

 

_She twitched, oh god, she’s still ALIVE. Shiho turned over, vomiting blood on the grass as it stained Ann’s shoes._

_“I- It hurts,” She whispered, eyes wide in fear, “I don’t… Want to die anymore-”_

_“It’s alright- You’re gonna be alright-”_

_Her eyes rolled into the back of her head as Ann screamed-_

* * *

 

He fell backwards, hitting his head on the brick wall of the alley they appeared in.

“Holy shit!” Ryuji exclaimed as he helped Ren stand up, “Dude are you okay?!”

Ren closed his eyes and waited for the spots to go away, “No- I- I'm not. I need to make some preparations, I- I have to leave- I.. We're done for today. We’re- We’re just done. I'll see you tomorrow, top of the stairs.”

“Yeah, man I remember. I just wish you'd tell me what's going on.”

“Telling you now wouldn't do us any good. I'll explain to you and Ann tomorrow.”

“I've heard that before.”

 _“Ryuji,”_ He growled, deathly serious.

Ryuji actually flinched at Ren using his name like that, Ren quickly gaining a look of horror as he realized who he resembled in that moment, towering over his friend.

“I… Ryuji, I'm so sorry, I-”

“Hey, it's cool man. Something's obviously got you freaked.”

“It’s not fine- I acted like- I-” Ren backed away a bit, fidgeting with his shirt.

“Tomorrow,” Ryuji said.

“What?”

“I’ll see ya tomorrow, top of the stairs. You want I should bring Ann? You mentioned her.”

“I… No. No, don't bring her immediately. I'll let you know when to go get her.”

“Sure thing,” Ryuji said, trying to calm him with a smile.

_And you wonder why I named you after the sun._

“Thank you, _mon Soleil.”_

Ren turned around and walked to the train station, pulling out his phone as he went.

 **_Ren:_ ** _I'm sorry. I will never, ever be able to apologize enough, but I can at least try. I will do everything in my power to make sure my mistakes don’t cause you the pain I deserve._

 **_Ann:_ ** _Ren? What are you talking about? Are you alright?!_

 **_Ann:_ ** _Ren??_

 **_Ann:_ ** _Ren you can't just ignore somebody after a text like that, you're freaking me out!_

 **_Ann:_ ** _REN!!!_

He turned to the _bleu_ door in the back of his closet. Trembling with fear and anguish, he entered.

“I need to use the doors.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Extra special longer chapter today! Because the angst finally got the Hell back on track!
> 
> Also neither of us have great self control.
> 
> We are not sorry.
> 
> FP: kekeke


	11. Chapter 11

“I can't let you do that, not in the state you're in,” Lavenza protested.

“You can't stop me either.”

“What will this accomplish? You're only hurting yourself by using those doors!”

“I DESERVE IT LAVENZA!”

“Don’t yell at me, Trickster. And you don't deserve this, that's just the guilt talking.”

“All I’ve done is hurt people today… Including _you.”_

He entered an obsidian door with the number 27 roughly etched into it. Lavenza's eyes widened.

“Ren, don't-!”

He locked it behind him.

_Oh. Of course it's this one._

His previous attempt.

About what he deserved, he supposed.

* * *

 

Lavenza ran through Ren’s Velvet Room, desperately searching for the help she needed. Her Master could not help with this, he was strictly an observer, as he’d always been. No, for this, she would need the people she relied on the most. She finally found the door she was looking for. It was simple, yet elegant. Plain white with a gleaming silver handle. She opened it and burst into the room, startling the two occupants inside.

“Theodore, Elizabeth, I need your help!”  
  
    “Lavenza? What’s wrong?” Elizabeth asked, standing and rushing over to her little sister, followed closely by Theodore  
  
    “My guest has trapped himself in a room of his own bad memories and I can’t get him out alone!”  
  
    The twins shared a look, before nodding.

“Lead the way,” Theodore said.  
  
    Lavenza’s shoulders sagged in relief, “Thank you, now please come with me.”  
  
    As Lavenza led her siblings to Ren’s Velvet Room, Elizabeth started asking questions  
  
    “So, how did he end up in there?”  
  
    “He went in willingly.”  
  
    “...Why on Earth would he do that?”  
   

“Because he's a self-sacrificing idiot who punishes himself needlessly whenever something goes wrong,” Lavenza said crossly as they reached the room Ren had barricaded himself in.  
  
    “Sounds familiar. Theodore?”  
  
    “Yes ma’am.”  
  
    Theodore slammed his fist into the door handle, shaking it off as the wood splintered, the door handle collapsing inwards. Gently grabbing the door by the newly made hole…  
  
    He opened it.

Ren came tumbling out of the room, gasping and clutching his right shoulder. Theodore just barely caught him before he hit the ground.

* * *

 

Ren violently coughed up smoke, blood running from his nose as his shoulder throbbed painfully. Dazed, he looked up to see Lavenza, with two others quickly walking away, before disappearing from his vision entirely.

“Who…?”

“They don't matter right now!” Lavenza said, “What happened to you?! And I swear to whatever God you believe in, if you say you deserved this, I will bring the guillotine back!”

    He lifted his hand from his shoulder, revealing a fresh burn wound in the pattern of _Lycoris Radiata_ extending from the middle of his neck down to cover the top of his entire right shoulder _._

“Spider lilies... ”

“...Ren? Are you…?”

Ren tried to get on his feet, found he couldn’t, and resigned himself to leaning against the wall, still holding his shoulder. He quietly laughed as tears ran down his face.

    “They were always Ann’s favorite flower, although she was never a fan of the fact they represent death,” He smiled sadly, “Of course, I do enjoy the legend behind it.”

    “The Forgotten River separates the underworld and the living world. When the dead cross this river to get to the other side, all the memories of their past life will disappear,” Lavenza softly rehearsed, “The lilies grow on the shore, the scent of the flowers bringing back all the beautiful memories of the dead for one last time, before they disappear when cross the river.”

    “That’s the one.”

    “...I can only heal you so much.”

    “I know.”

    “Of course you do. I shall heal it just enough so that it won’t get infected, but you’ll have to deal with hiding the scar.”

    “I’m fine with that.”

    “...Rest now, Trickster.”

    As Ren closed his eyes, he was met with a flaming _rouge._

 

    **4/15**

**Shujin Academy Roof**

**Morning**

 

Ren had gotten to school early this morning. It had surprised Sojiro to see a note saying he’d already left, and Ren’s pretty sure he almost gave Chouno-sensei a heart attack when he bumped into her first thing. But it was necessary. He _needed_ to be up here today. It was his fault that this needed to happen in the first place.

    He was sitting in the middle of the roof, thinking about what he was going to say and do. He was pulled from his thoughts by the door opening, and slowly, as if she were in a daze, out walked Shiho Suzui. There wasn’t even a spark of light in her eyes. She listlessly started walking over to the edge of the roof. She still hadn’t noticed him.

    _Well, now or never I guess._

    “Hey,” He said. Shiho shrieked and whirled around to stare at him.

    “Well, good morning to you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Liz and Theo, whoo. Lavanza doesn't get paid enough to deal with Ren's shit.
> 
>  
> 
> Also, if any of you guys decide to draw fanart of this, please, please, PLEASE link us to it! We would both relish the chance to flip the fuck out over some awesome art.
> 
> Furious: the scar has a deep meaning and all, and has a deep root in the story, but what inspired it's creation in the first place was my desperation for fan art.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit we got fanart
> 
> https://waterveridiots.deviantart.com/art/P5-Fanart-for-Fanfic-748273388

          “Wha-? I… What are you doing up here?” She asked, sounding more than a little helpless.

          “No real reason, just wanted some time to myself. It’s nice and quiet up here, you know? What about you? Same reason?”

          “I… I…” She sounded completely dead inside, “I just can’t.”

          Shiho took a step back as Ren’s eyes widened in fear. Without even making the conscious thought, he was already moving. Time slowed to a crawl for him, the screams from the people below fading into background noise. In an instant, he saw the hopelessness in Shiho’s eyes morph into realization, and then terror.

          By the time he reached her and wrapped his arms around her waist, she was frantically clawing at the air, then at his shirt, trying to do everything she could to stop her fall. By the time he’d pulled her back onto the roof and far away from the edge, she’d managed to pull down the collar on his turtleneck. The one he’d been using to hide his new scar. He’d have to worry about that later. For now he’d have to deal with the distressed girl lying on his chest.

          “You… You saved me…” She said, as if she couldn’t believe it.

          “And you realized you don’t want to go off that ledge, right?”

          Tears filled Shiho’s eyes as she started shaking her head, first slowly, then faster, until she eventually put her head on Ren’s chest and started bawling. It sounded like she’d been holding it in since yesterday. Ren didn’t say anything, he simply lay there as she cried and cried. Eventually, she petered out and gathered her composure enough to speak to him.

          “No,” she sniffed, “I don’t want to. But… I,”

          “You don’t have to tell me what happened,” he said quietly.

          “...Why were you really up here?”

          “Told you, I needed some air.”

          “You’re a worse liar than Ann.”

          “Hey, I resent that,” he said with a fake scowl.

          She giggled wetly into his shirt, before slowly rolling off of him. Frowning slightly, she looked him in the eyes.

          “I saw that scar. That couldn’t have been accidental.”

_Dammit._

          “It was my own fault-”

          “Please don’t say that.”

          “No, like, I pretty much did this to myself. It actually was my fault.”

          “What were you even doing?”

          “...Penance, I guess. Though I didn’t know this is what would happen at the time,” he said, pulling down the turtleneck while gesturing to his shoulder.

          “...It’s pretty.”

          He laughed at that, “Yeah, it is. Looks like spider lilies, doesn’t it?”

          “Red Magic Lilies is what my parents call them.”

          “Not a bad name,” he said while staring into the sky.

          They were both quiet for a moment before Shiho spoke up again, “You said that scar was penance. For what, exactly?”

          “...For not saving someone in time. I stopped them from making a huge mistake after, but it was my fault they decided to do it in the first place, because I didn’t help them in time.”

          “How could you have known?”

          He laughed again, though this one was significantly darker than the last.

          “That is a very long story. One you might not believe.”

          “I’m not going anywhere. I think my legs are jelly from the fear.”

          “It’s not a very happy story.”

          “And yet you seem like you’re dying to tell it,” she pointed out.

_Do I really?_

          His eyes widened at the realization that he did. He really wanted to. So, coming up with no other reason to stall this, he told her everything.

          He told her the story of the _Phantom Thieves of Hearts._

          He told her of how they punished the wicked, and stole the corrupted hearts of those who had grown drunk on power. How they helped those in need, leaving no trace except for their calling card. He told her of the steadfast Skull, the firebrand Panther, the eccentric Fox, the unrelenting Queen, the indomitable Noir, the genius Oracle, the experienced Mona, and the invincible Joker.

          And he also told her of their deaths. He left out any that harmed their image, any of the ones where the stress got too much for them. No, he only told her of their most noble deaths. He told her of how they gave their lives to protect people they cared about, and how they did the same for even strangers.

          He told her their glory stories.

          “...So you have proof?”

          “I do.”

          Ren could hear people rushing up the stairs.

          “Meet me outside LeBlanc this Sunday. I’ll show you everything.”

          “I told ya, I can’t let you out there yet!” They could hear Ryuji yelling.

          “And I told you I don’t care! I know Ren’s out there, and damn it he is _going_ to talk to me about this!” And there was Ann.

          “Party’s over, looks like,” Ren said while sitting up. He called out, “Ryuji you can let her through now!”

          “Ann?” Shiho questioned.

          “Yes,” Ren answered as both blondes walked outside, “Are you gonna tell her or do you want me to do it?”

          “Tell me what? What are you both doing out here?!” Ann demanded.

          “No, I’ll tell her,” Shiho said. She slowly got to her feet, Ann rushing over to help her up.

          “Shiho, what is going on?!” Ann asked hysterically, “What was Ren apologizing for yesterday?”

          Shiho’s eyes widened a bit at that, before she shook her head and looked Ann in the eye.

          “Ann. About yesterday…”

          As she told her Ren quietly sang to himself, unheard and unnoticed by the others.

 _“Oh we all still die,”_ He hummed, _“What will you leave behind...”_

 _“Oh we all still_ **_die._ ** _”_

          When Shiho finished telling Ann what had happened to her, the poor blonde was speechless, and Ryuji looked ready to put his fist through a wall.

          Ren walked over to Ryuji, and out a hand on his shoulder.

          “Don’t you dare tell me to calm down,” Ryuji’s voice was cold and unwavering, “Not after what I just heard.”

          “I’m not telling you to calm down, I’m telling you to save that rage. You’re gonna need it today. So will Ann.”

          Ryuji turned to him in surprise, then looked at Ann, who’s shoulder’s had begun shaking as she took Shiho into her arms.

          “You mean…?”

          “She’s coming with us today. For now, call an ambulance. Shiho needs to get to the hospital.”

          “Right,” Ryuji said as he pulled his phone out and started dialing.

          “Christ,” Ren muttered.

          “What is it?”

          He walked over to the edge of the building. Looking down he saw a horde of students and teachers alike had gathered to witness Shiho’s near death experience.

          “That’s it.”


	13. Chapter 13

After the paramedics left with Ann and Shiho, Ren and Ryuji were immediately bombarded by the gossipy students, most of them having seen Ren catch Shiho before she fell, and Ryuji had walked down to the courtyard with them.

_ “Oh for Christ’s sake, _ ” Kawakami muttered, “QUIET DOWN!”

The courtyard quieted, realizing she was tired and angry enough that she might actually shank one of them, as she oh so often dreamt of doing.

“Thank you, sensei,” Ren said, “Now, if you’ll all excuse me-” and he immediately ran away, leaving the entire courtyard stunned.

“SEE YA!” He called behind him.

“AMAMIYA GET BACK HERE BEFORE I BEAT YOUR-!” Kawakami just  _ barely  _ stopped herself. 

“MISS KAWAKAMI, LANGUAGE!” The phallic looking principal sputtered. 

“REN WHAT THE HELL!” Ryuji said, rushing to catch up with his friend.

_ “What… What just happened?” _

__ _ “The fuck?” _

__ _ “What is  _ **_with_ ** _ this… Dorky french kid?!” _

__ _ “Wasn’t he like, sick or something the other day?” _

__ _ “I heard he has a concussion.” _

__ “Alright everyone back to your classes!” Kawakami said, starting to herd students back inside. By the time they’d all returned, Ren sat in his desk, innocently waving at them as the kid who sat behind him, the only kid who didn’t leave his classroom to gawk in the courtyard, stared at him like he rose up out of Hell to get there.

“Amamiya-” One of his classmates started to speak.

“Nope,” Ren said simply. The classmate looked stunned.

“Wait, but-” Another one tried to talk.

“NOPE,” He said, louder, as the kid who sat behind him just frantically shook his head at the group in pure horror. Kawakami chose that moment to walk in.

“I’m not even going to question why Hikaru looks like someone just killed a cat-”

Hikaru made a small cry of horror.

_ “Not the cat.” _

“...Alright everyone back to your seats! It’s highly likely you’ll be going home early after what happened, so please just try and keep it quiet until then, okay?”

For the remainder of the day, until they were told they could leave, Ren went over plans of action. It was almost guaranteed Ann would have her Awakening, the only question was what her final catalyst would be. The final catalyst determined… Everything… When it came to Ann. God he did not want to relive the very reason he had gotten his scar. The last thing he needed was her going ballistic. In almost every other attempt, it was usually Ann setting the baseline for how it would turn out. But he had no idea what would happen next; would she Awaken sooner, rather than later? Would she get kidnapped this time? He just didn’t know. He was flying completely blind here.

And what about Shiho? He’d never told her about the Thieves; if she ever learned of them at all it was usually because Ann told her, or she figured it out herself. But now he’d just told her basically the whole story, barring any details of a certain old man and a girl in a blue dress.  _ That _ would’ve taken way too long to explain.

Once the announcement came over the PA that they were excused for the day, Ren was the first one out of the room. Ryuji was already waiting for him outside.

“So what now?” Ryuji asked as they started walking out.

“Now, we go to the hospital. Morgana will meet us there,” Ren answered.

“Now that you mention it, where’s he been? I haven’t seen him all day.”

“I told him to go there this morning when I woke up. With any luck, he’ll already be there.”

“Why’d you send him there?”

“...I had a bad feeling this morning.”

“...’A bad feeling’?” Ryuji asked skeptically.

_“Yes,_ _mon Soleil,_ a bad feeling. One I’ve learned to listen to over the years.”

“Why the hell would you learn to- You know what? Just- Never mind.”

“That's the spirit!” Ren said, grinning.

_ “The fuck is with you man.” _

“You're with me, currently.”

“Stop.”

Laughing maniacally like the madman he is, Ren ran to the station, Ryuji completely outpacing him, and even having to pause for his fairly weak friend.

“You really aren't that strong outside the metaverse, are you?”

“You are a maternal sex giver, and I baby shitting hate you.”

“What the fuck-”

“Shhhhhhhhhhut the duckfuck up for a sec, we’ve arrived at the station.”

Ryuji just glared at Ren as he smirked.

“Alright, what the hell is going on with you man? You’re acting really damn weird. What, are you...coping, or something?”

Ren considered that as the train pulled in, “Yeah, I suppose it’s something like that.”

Ryuji stared at him, a concerned look on his face.

“You know I'm here for you, right?” Ryuji asked.

Ren stared at him for a moment, “...Yeah, I know that,” And he smirked again, “Hell, I’m kind of counting on that until my body gets back with the program.”

“Huh?”

“Eh, long story. Basically, I used to be a lot stronger, but I’m not anymore, and I need to fix that as soon as I can.”

“Oh, I get that man, believe me,” Ryuji said, nodding, “How’d you fall out of it, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“I didn’t, at least not by choice. Extenuating circumstances forced me into becoming weaker.”

“So you either injured yourself or got sick,” Ryuji guessed.

“Basically.”

Ryuji smiled at him, “Dude, just say that next time, you dork,” He lightly punched Ren as they entered the train.

Ren smirked at him, “I’ll be sure to keep that in mind  _ mon Soleil.” _

The train ride passed in relative silence.

They arrived at the hospital in a matter of minutes, meeting up with Morgana outside.

“Took you long enough,” Morgana said.

“We had to be let out from school ya damn cat!” Ryuji shouted.

“How’re Ann and Shiho?” Ren asked, heading off an argument before it could start.

“I don’t know. I saw them come in, but I haven’t been able to get inside to see where they went.”

“Well, that’s an easy fix at least,” Ren said, holding his bag open for Morgana to jump in.

Ren walked up to the receptionist, quickly waving at her before softly speaking, “Pardon me, but someone close to us was just admitted here, her name is Shiho Suzui?”

“Let me just check that,” she said, typing at her computer, “Yes, she was admitted a few minutes ago. Only family can be admitted right now, even if she currently has no visitors.”

“I’m her brother.”

Ryuji stared at him, a highly confused look on his face. The receptionist raised an eyebrow at him, quickly looking him up and down before deciding he looked similar enough.

“Alright, she should be in room 308.”

“Thank you,  _ mademoiselle,”  _ Ren spoke in a soft soprano, the girl behind the desk blushing a bit before waving him off, not having noticed that Ryuji followed him.

“The hell was that?”

“High Charm levels.”

“Not even gonna ask.”

They arrived at Shiho’s room, Ann waiting just outside, head in her hands.

_ “Ma Chaton- _ Ann,” Ren stuttered, “How is she?”

“I don’t know, they won’t let me in to see her,” Ann said. She hadn’t looked up.

“I convinced them I’m her brother, would it be okay if I checked up on her and relayed it back to you?”

“Wha- Absolutely! Thank you Ren,” Ann looked up, smiling wide.

Ren nodded, a small smirk on his face. He walked into Shiho’s room, who looked up at him, and seemed… Vaguely disappointed actually.

“What’s with that look?” He playfully scoffed.

“Well, I was hoping for Ann, oddly enough,” She said a little sarcastically.

“Sorry, family only, Sis.”

“Huh?”

“Turns out I was the only one who looked close enough to pass off as your brother.”

“...Actually, you do look like you could be my brother. It’s a little creepy.”

“Eh, I think I look better.”

“Pshhhh, you wish. I’m gorgeous,” she said with a smirk, flipping her hair to the side, and  _ wow _ now he could see a relation. 

“...Well holy shit. Guess we are related.”

“Ewwwww, stop!” She laughed. This was good. At least she wasn’t in the state he found her in on the roof.

_ Guess talking to Ann helped her out a lot. _

“So about that proof...” Shiho started. 

_ Oh hell no. _

“You’re still in the hospital, and I remember specifically telling you  _ Sunday.  _ It can wait.”

“Jeez, I guess you’re the protective older brother now?”

“No, I’m the cheesy dad and you all are my kids. And you, little missy, are staying here for now.”

Shiho grew somber at that. He could actually see a bit of the light in her eyes dim, before she closed them. Then, she opened her eyes again after a few moments, and just as quickly as it left, the light came back as a flame.

“They said I could be discharged tomorrow,” She said defiantly.

“That’s not Sunday,” He countered.

“I will  _ make it _ Sunday if I have to.”

“I’d like to see you  _ try. _ ”

“There isn’t a damn thing you could do to stop me,” She vowed.

He stared her down, searching for something in those eyes. Then, to her surprise, he started laughing. It started small, simply his shoulders shaking as he chuckled, until it grew into an actual laugh, and before long he couldn’t stop laughing as he clutched his ribs. After a while, he finally petered out, and looked Shiho in the eye once more.

“Ah, it’s quite easy to see how  _ ma Chaton Rouge _ fell so hard for you,  _ ma  _ _ Yeux Pétillants,”  _ He said with his signature Joker smirk on his face.

“Wait, who likes me?” She said with a small blush.

_ SHIT. _

“Secret,” He coughed out at the last second, holding a finger on his lips.

“Jerrrkkk,” She complained.

“Eh, I’ve been called worse.”

She narrowed her eyes at him, “I get the feeling you’re not going to give any easy answers.”

“Hey, I told you the whole story of the Phantom Thieves, that’s more than I’ve told anyone in years.”

“I’ve yet to believe your time travel nonsense.”

“And you’ve yet to tell anyone that I’m a madman that needs to be put in an asylum, so I’m considering that a win.”

“You would.”

“You’ve known me all of a day and yet sound so certain of that. We call that  _ deja vu, _ very common when time travel bullshit is involved.”

“It’s called seeing through  _ your _ bullshit, Amamiya.”

“I think after today, we’re pretty much on a first name basis, wouldn’t you agree, Shiho?”

“It’s called seeing through your bullshit,  _ Ren.” _

“Much better.”

“Oh screw you.”

“Kek-” He slapped a hand over his mouth.

_ Wait, did I just Kek? Okay, no, that is one habit I am NOT picking up from Futaba. _

Shiho’s eyebrow raised, “Did you just-”

And he started coughing, “Sorry, bit of a tickle in my throat.”

“You totally just laughed like some villain from Featherman,” She accused, a wicked grin growing on her face.

_ “Listen.  _ That did not happen. This is not happening. No. NO, DAMN IT, STOP LAUGHING AT ME-” He said as she started cackling at him.

* * *

 

Ann had no idea what was going on, but she could hear Ren yelling as Shiho cackled maniacally. Which was good…? Better than most alternatives. 

“The hell is goin’ on in there?” Ryuji asked quietly.

“Well… The doctor isn’t here...” Ann said suggestively.

“This dude has been a horrible influence on you, and I couldn’t be happier,” Ryuji grinned. 

They quickly went to open the door, only to see Shiho laughing so hard she looked like she’d burst a blood vessel, while Ren sat in the corner with his knees touching his chest and his hand clutching his head looking like someone told him he was dying.

“So, what’s so funny?” Ann asked.

_ “Nothing,” _ Ren said sharply, “Nothing is funny, she’s just being mean.”

“HE LAUGHS LIKE A VILLAIN FROM FEATHERMAN!”

“FUCK OFF!”

Ryuji was having a very hard time reconciling this Ren with the guy he’d seen tear through supernatural monsters with a smile on his face.

“This motherfucker,” Shiho interrupted his thoughts, “fucking  _ ‘keked’ _ at me!” And she started laughing again.

“NO I DIDN’T, I SWEAR TO IGOR SHE’S LYING!” He cut off, frantically pointing at Shiho.

_ “... Ren _ _,”_ Ann said, looking vaguely disappointed in him.

He simply sputtered out like a dead car engine.

“...Look, it’s just a stupid habit I picked up from my little sister.”

“Ren.”

“...And I’m highly self conscious of it.”

“Better,” Ann nodded.

“I do  _ not _ kek,” Shiho said.

“Not you, my other sister!”

“The fuck?” Ryuji blurted out.

“Wait, what?” Ann questioned.

“It was a whole ordeal, don’t question it. Anyways, I picked it up from the one I actually live with.”

“...So, y’all are sticking with the sibling thing?” Ryuji asked.

“Mmmm,” He hummed, “Yeah. At least as long she’s in the hospital. In my experience, changing a lie as soon as it’s convenient never goes well. Best to stick to determined stories when they’re made,” Ren explained.

“‘Experience’?” Ann asked.

“Kekeke-”

“HE DID IT AGAIN!” Shiho cried with a mad grin.

“CAT BASTARD-”

“Dude what the fuck is with your version of swearing?!”

“I AM NOT A CAT!”

“I’M NOT DUCKFUCKING TALKING ABOUT YOU MORGANA!”

“Is… Is he talking to the cat?”

“He’s crazy, we’ve established this,” Ann said.

“But the cat hissed back...” Shiho pointed out.

“Well, he’s crazy, but that doesn’t make him insane,” Ryuji said.

“So the cat… Talks back to him?”

Morgana turned on her, “I. Am not. A cat.”

“Shit, now it’s hissing at me, what do I do?!”

“Morgana, chill the anal fuck down for once.”

“AT LEAST CUSS AT ME NORMALLY!”

“STICK A DICK IN IT!”

_ “ _ _ ¡QUE TE JODAN, _ _ PENDEJO!”  _ Morgana screeched.

“I swear, they’re friends,” Ann said.

“No, I believe it,” Shiho said with a grin, “Remember how we become friends?”

* * *

 

They finally got kicked out of the hospital about ten minutes after visiting hours ended. Taking a shortcut, Ryuji and Ren split off from Ann, waving her off and continuing to their destination. Ren started to space off a bit until he saw a small district lit up in dim red lights. Curious as to what was going on, he decided to check it out.

“Hey Ryuji, I think I’m going to make a quick stop.”

“Yeah sure Ren, my mom’s gonna be pissed I was out so late, so I’ll go ahead, ok?” Ryuji said, distracted.

“See ya,” Ren waved him off, walking over to the area. After they left, Ren was struck with a realization.

“Shit, I forgot to take my medication… It’s probably fine if I take it now,” He muttered to himself, popping a pill in his mouth and shuddering as he had to dry swallow it. Walking into the district, he was greeted to some music playing from a nearby speaker and thousands of bright, cherry red lights.

_ “Roxanne… You don’t have to put on that red light… Walk the streets for money...” _

Ren shuddered, his vision swirling a little.

_ “You don’t care if it’s wrong or if it is right.” _

He stumbled around the corner to see Makoto’s violated body lying limp in an alley.

* * *

 

Ryuji stopped, his mind screeching to a halt as he laid in his bed.

“Ohhh,  _ shit!” _

He leapt down the stairs at an alarming speed, pulling his jeans onto his body all the while.

“Where are you going now Ryuji?” His mother frowned, “You just got back.”

“I am literally the worst friend  _ ever, _ and I’ll be right back, I promise!”

“How are you the worst-?” She started to ask, not quite believing him on this particular subject.

“So that friend who transferred from the countryside who’s too curious for his own good? I left him at the Red-Light District.”

Her eyes widened,  _ “Shit,  _ Ryuji! What on Earth were you doing anywhere near there?! Especially at this time of night!”

“It was a shortcut, okaybyeMom!” And he ran out the door.

_ Ah shit, the train! Has the last one already ran tonight? Christ, what if something happens to him?? Oh god, what if someone does what Kamoshida did to- _

Ryuji violently gagged at the thought, picking up his speed to intense levels.

_ I think I understand a bit how Ann feels about Shiho now. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Omake:
> 
> Hikaru sat at his desk, working on homework. He didn't want to see what was going on outside, so he just stayed in his classroom. Suddenly, Amamiya, who sat in front of him in class, who brought lockpicks, knives, and a fucking cat to class, exorcist crawled into the room at full speed. He dashed to his desk before backflipping into it.
> 
> "Why," Hikaru muttered in horror.
> 
> "Because making you question your existence is my only joy in this world."


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Longer chapter because WE'RE OVER 2000 HITS!

    “Oh _god, not again, not again, oh god please no-_ ” Ren frantically begged, hyperventilating as he backed into the alley wall, hitting his head on it as the world swirled around him.  

    Makoto’s body laid limp in front of him, her clothing ripped and covered in the unspeakable, a broken syringe scattered in pieces next to her. Her eyes were wide open and bloodshot, yellowed foam sitting around the edges of her mouth, as spider lilies lay scattered and crumpled around her.

 _This shouldn’t even be possible, I haven’t gotten this far yet, she shouldn’t BE HERE!_ Some part of him screamed, and yet, there she was right in front of him. Broken and battered and not at all the warrior he’d known her as. His second in command, his _Maid de Fer,_ his Queen.

    Ren bolted, whether to get help, or to just get away from the horrifying scene, he didn’t know. Color began melting from the world around him, neon red and yellow flashing around him. He stumbled, pushing off walls to further catapult himself away from the area, until he slammed into somebody. He didn’t bother to check who the person was, vision blurry beyond compare, before frantically begging for help.

    “Please help, my friend- She’s dying- Please help me-” The small part of him that was still somewhat lucid - and it was getting smaller as time went on - cringed at his slurring. Even he could barely understand what he was saying. He scrambled towards the person he’d bumped into, clutching at their clothing for support as his legs crumpled beneath him. He looked down at the sudden drop, and almost screamed out at the puddle of neon red and yellow connecting to his waist, feeling the rest of his body begin to melt and drip around him.

    “Goodness gracious!” He heard an exclamation, but he could barely make out the voice from the haze he was in. It sounded vaguely familiar though, so he hoped that was a good sign. He knew he was still in Shinjuku - at least he _really_ hoped he was - so that narrowed down who he could be talking to right now. Lala-chan, Ichiko, or -

    “Are you alright...?” Or Chihaya. The twang was gone from her voice now, but he could at least her her a bit more clearly through the fog in his head. God, it was like a wall of cotton filled with lead.

    “No!- Maybe- I don’t know!” He all but screamed, “Just- please! My friend needs help!” He began to droop, his frantic slurring begin to lower into mumbling, “I need...” He fell forward onto the ground in front of Chihaya, splattering as his melting body scattered across the ground.

    And the world went black.

* * *

 

    In hindsight, trying to run all the way to Shinjuku in the dead of night on a bum leg was not one of Ryuji’s brightest ideas. But he didn’t exactly have any other options! His buddy was in a damn red light district for God’s sake! And Ryuji _knew_ Ren was prone to panic attacks, and he still let him go, because he’s basically the worst friend _ever._ He was leaning against a wall, rubbing his aching knee, when a familiar sky blue car came to a stop next to him. The window rolled down, and his mom called out to him.

    “Get in,” Her tone brokered no argument, but he couldn’t afford to turn back now.

    “Mom, I can’t! I’m sorry, but-”

    “Ryuji,” Her tone was still sharp, but it had softened, “Get in the car so I can drive you there. I’m not going to let you run all the way to Shinjuku. I’ll give you a lift and you, young man, are going to give me some answers.”

    “Oh. Okay then.”

    “Did you think I was gonna let your friend - with anxiety I might add - stay lost in the Red Light District?” She asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

    “You know, it sounds a lot worse when you phrase it like that-” He said, rubbing the back of his head.

    “Just get in the damn car.”

    “Yes ma’am.” He said, already opening the passenger side door hurriedly.

* * *

 

    Ren’s eyes snapped open as he bolted upright, and immediately regretted the decision as his head split open with pain. It wasn’t as bad as the Awakening, but it was a definite second, and it lasted much longer.

    “The fuck...”

    “That’s what I said when Chihaya dropped you off here,” a feminine voice said to his left.

    Ren violently flung himself off the seat and bar he was leaning on, hitting his head on the floor and groaning as he curled into himself.

    “Everytime I fucking swear...” He moaned.

    “I’m guessing you fall off shit often?”

    “All too often. I seem to be having problems with basic motor functions, such as walking,” He said while rubbing his head. He looked up from where he was sitting and took a look at whom he was speaking with; Ichiko Ohya stared back at him, nursing a drink and looking at him with something at least resembling concern.

    “Funny. Anyway, what exactly were you on? After Chihaya brought you in here, she said you were rambling about Fair Maidens in an alley or something. But lo and behold nothing was there-”

 _“Oh thank fuck, it wasn’t real,”_ Ren nearly collapsed in relief.

    “Christ kid, the fuck were you hallucinating?”

    “Dead people, or a person specifically,” He rambled off before he could stop himself.

    “...Welllll holy shit, no wonder you were freaking out so bad. Guessing it was someone you know?”

    “Yes. Very painfully so.”

    “Jeez, what the hell was in your system?”

    Ren barked out a laugh at that, “You’re gonna love this: I was on anxiety meds.”

    She blinked at that, “...I suggest getting a new doctor.”

    “She’s all I can really afford.”

    “Well you’re fucked.”

    “I’m just gonna follow the schedule religiously, because taking them late is apparently worse than what would happen if I didn’t take them at all. Usually.”

    “What the fuck is wrong with you if that gets a _usually?_ ”

    “Violent flashbacks and panic attacks.”

    “How are real life memories worse than hallucinating dead people?”

    He was silent.

    Her eyes widened, “...Oh shit.”

    “I’ve… Seen some stuff.”

    She slid her drink to him, “Sounds like you need this more than I do.”

    “Pretty sure Lala-chan would actually murder you for giving a drink to a minor,” He said.

    “How the hell are you a minor?”

    “How the hell do people confuse me for older than sixteen?”

    She balked, “SIXTEEN?! Fuck, NOPE, ain’t gettin’ fuckin arrested for this!” She said, snatching the drink back.

    “Christ, you look like you’re in your twenties with kids or something.”

    “You have no idea how ironic and hilarious that is.”

    “...Did you get some girl pregnant?” She asked with narrowed eyes.

    “Hell no. Although I have been caught in a situation where I had to pretend to be a father to prevent getting possibly expelled.”

    She looked at him like he’d grown a second head, “Holy _shit,_ so- So you’re telling me that you’ve seen people die, or worse, _and_ had to pretend to be a grown man with children to not get expelled? Where the fuck did I put my pen and notebook, this shit needs to get _written._ ” She said, rifling through her bag.

    She was interrupted when the door to the bar slammed open and a loud voice called out, “REN HOLY _FUCK!”_

“Ryuji Sakamoto! Watch your language!” A stern motherly voice chastised from somewhere behind the blond.

    “Hello _mon Soleil_. Join me on the floor?” Ren asked casually.

    _“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-”_ Ryuji continued yelling as he dashed over to Ren and made sure he wasn’t about to die. Then promptly picked him up and dashed out of the bar, still screaming the entire time.

    “See ya Ohya,” Ren said from Ryuji’s shoulder.

    “Wait- WAIT, THE FUCK, HOW DO YOU KNOW MY NAME-” Ohya screeched as he was carried off. On their way out, Ren locked eyes with the woman with Ryuji. She was a bit shorter than him, with black hair tied into a slightly messy ponytail.

    “Oh hello, you must be Miss Sakamoto, it’s lovely to meet you, Ryuji here speaks the world of you,” He said with a smile as he was carried to her car bridal style.

    She blinked at him, then blinked again, “Um… Yes, it’s lovely to meet you as well. Ryuji speaks of you often.”

    “Ma!” Ryuji complained with a small blush as they piled into his mother’s car.

    “That’s flattering,” Ren smiled while easily falling into small talk with her.

    “Sweetie, what exactly were you even doing in that part of town so late at night?”

    _And there goes the happy atmosphere._

“I saw the red lights and got curious. After all, I’ve never been to the city before.”

    “Not the district, Ryuji explained your curiosity, I’m wondering how you got that far in.”

    “...I got lost. A kindly fortune teller helped me-”

    “Bullshit. I can tell by your face dude.”

    “Ryuji! Language! Though he has a point dear, I don’t appreciate being lied to.”

    _How in the hell did that one statement scare me more than the Reaper?_ Ren thought as he started sweating bullets.

    “I… Okay this is going to sound really bad, but I promise it’s not.”

    “Somehow I doubt that,” Ryuji commented.

    “Very funny. Anyway, I was walking around, this was after you’d gone home, _mon Soleil,_ and I realized I hadn’t taken my medicine today. So, I took some, and it became pretty evident taking anxiety medication that can cause hallucinations in a district full of bright lights and noises is in fact a very bad idea. Who’d’ve thought?”

    “DUDE THAT IS NOT OKAY.”

    “PSHHhhh-”

    “DON’T YOU ‘PSHHH’ ME AMAMIYA-”

    “Well now you just sound like Ann-”

    “FUCKIN’ GOOD! YOU ACTUALLY FUCKIN’ LISTEN TO HER!”

    “RYUJI GODDAMN IT, STOP SWEARING.”

    “Sorry Mom.”

    Ren started snickering before Miss Sakamoto glared at him in the rearview mirror, causing him to stiffen.

    “Okay, haven’t felt _that_ particular fear in a while,” Ren admitted.

    “Hmph, seems you need the reminder,” She said, and continued driving.

* * *

 

**Yongen-Jaya**

 

    "Ren get your ass down stairs!" Sojiro grunted as he stomped up the stairs. The kid was gonna be late at this point, and he did not need to deal with that. He didn't care about the kid, obviously. Nope. Not at all. Paperwork just sucks. Entering the attic, he felt his heart skip a beat.

     Ren wasn't there. Sojiro stumbled down the stairs, frantic. That kid called him saying he was taking a shortcut from the hospital, which was right next to the Red Light District. _He could be drugged or dismembered somewhere, oh God-_

    "Hey Boss. I was taking out the trash- Are you alright?"

 _"Goddamn it kid,"_ Sojiro sighed, voice cracking as he sat on one of the bar stools, clutching his heart.

     “A- Are you okay?” The kid frantically ran over to him, a look of distress on his face, as per the usual.

     “You just scared the shit outta me is all.”

_Shit, the kid only looks more concerned… Uhhhhh…_

    “No you did not give me a heart attack.”

 _Okay, that worked,_ he thought as Ren visibly relaxed, sitting down next to him.

    Sojiro straightened up and looked Ren over, “You have enough time left for some coffee and curry, I ain’t lettin’ you skip another meal.”

     Ren smiled warmly at Sojiro, nodding his head.

    “That sounds nice.”

    If Futaba wasn’t the death of him, then Ren certainly would be. Sojiro smiled to himself regardless, going to make a meal for the second kid he’d taken into his care.

 _I can’t believe I’m warming up to this little shit,_ he thought before swearing as he burned himself while distracted.

_“Kekeke.”_

    Sojiro’s eyes widened. Did this kid just…? He thought Futaba was the only one who did that. Sojiro shook his head fondly.

_Welp. I have two Futabas now. Might as well lie down and accept my fate._

    Sojiro went around the corner, and started making the day’s curry.

* * *

  
    **Sojiro Sakura’s House**

 

_“Kekeke.”_

“THAT MOTHERFUCKER!” Futaba screamed.

* * *

_**ALTERNATE ENDING:** _

_**** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cannot believe how many people thought I'd just up and do Makoto like that for no damn reason. Frankly, I don't think I want to know what that says about me.


	15. Chapter 15

 

**4/16**

**Shujin Academy**

“Hehehe...” Ren awkwardly laughed, staring up from his place on the floor in the corner of the hallway. His friends covered all escape, knowing that he would sooner take his pills late than explain what happens when he does.

“So,” Ann started, glaring at him, “I walk my way home from the hospital in the dead of night, stupidly thinking everything is perfectly fine, because apparently you’re physically incapable of being fine, and what the hell text do I wake up to?”

Ren gulped before Ann grabbed his shirt and started shaking him, “YOU WERE TRIPPING -!”

“Ann!” Ryuji grabbed her shoulder and pointed out the small crowd of students who had turned at her screaming. Ann took a deep breath, in through her nose and out through her mouth, and glared at Ren again before continuing her tirade, albeit much quieter.

_“You were tripping drugs in the Red-Light District! What the fuck?!”_

“To be fair, it was just my anxiety meds,” Ren said lamely.

“That doesn’t make it better! And why were you on anxiety meds in the first place?!”

“Because I have anxiety…?” Ren looked at her mildly incredulously.

Ann sighed, “Alright, stupid question, I’ll admit. Sorry, I’m just a little...” She trailed off.

“Freaked out after learning how I spent my evening?” Ren smirked a bit self deprecatingly, “I’m freaked a bit _too._ Wasn’t exactly a choice I got to make.”

“You could've, I don’t know, not have taken them in a place full of noises and neon lights?” Ryuji supplied.

“I _need_ them. Y- You don’t know _what_ kind of _shit_ I see when I don’t take them. And it’s not like I knew _that_ would happen,” He growled lowly, starting to get a bit defensive.

“But I’ve got a vague idea of what you see when you do. Or at least that it’s fucked up.” Ryuji said, looking at him sympathetically.

“...Okay yeah, it wasn’t fun, I’ll admit, but… But I can’t stop taking them. They help a lot, I just have to learn how to prevent the side effects.”

“Side effects? As in plural?” Ann asked.

“Effect. Singular,” Ren said quickly.

“Ren Amamiya, I _swear to God-”_

 _"Singular,”_ He snapped adamantly.

The two stared each other down for a few moments before Ann finally relented, “Alright. I’ll believe you.”

 _“Merci...”_ He thanked her tiredly, “Now can I please get to class? We have a lot of stuff to do today, after all and we still need to keep up a few appearances until we’re done.”

_Which, speaking of pills, this will not be easy to do without, as I left them in Ryuji’s mom’s car and I don’t know how to get them back without him knowing. He’d probably give them back, but if something happens today because I’m without them, I don’t want him to blame himself._

“More like _when_ something happens,” Ren muttered to himself as he shuffled to class. Arriving just in time, he sat down and waited for Kawakami to arrive.

_“Did you hear? I bet he’s a drug addict.”_

_“Do you think he sells himself? He was seen entering the Red Light District.”_

_“I’ve never heard of a male prostitute.”_

_“He does look feminine enough.”_

_“I wonder how much he costs...”_

Well _that_ certainly didn’t take long. He flinched at some of the more perverted comments, quickly silencing them when they realized he could hear them. Ann’s furious looks probably helped too. He half-heartedly smiled at her, waving her off as to say it was fine.

 _It would probably be safe to say that only made it worse,_ he thought as she gave him a concerned look before glaring at certain students even harder. When Kawakami arrived and started role call, he quickly said his name and buried himself in his work and behind his books. If he had looked up, he would have noticed Ann staring in concern, biting her lip in frustration. She huffed before looking back to her work.

_“Did you see that?”_

_“She’s suuuper protective of him lately.”_

_“I wonder if they’re dating...”_

Ren started choking on a loose hair, caused by his sharp inhale at the comment. He coughed for almost a twenty seconds before Kawakami waved him out of the classroom, vaguely mentioning he should get a drink at one of the water fountains outside. As he walked out, he saw Ann staring at him in both concern and mild discontent, having heard the comment as well. He quickly shut the door behind him.

Ren leaned on the door and breathed out a deep sigh, sliding down the door a bit. It was honestly getting too overwhelming in there, and he was too tired to deal with any of it. Humming to himself, he walked to the nearest water fountain.

 _“If teardrops could be bottled… There’d be swimmin’ pools filled by models,”_ He started humming in an effort to get a hold of himself.

Ren took a long drink, looking at himself in the water, before continuing to hum the song, skipping a few verses to get to his favorite parts before he had to walk back into class. He swung his body back and forth in a sort of motionless dance.

_“Tell the mirror, what you know she’s heard before… I don’t wanna be you…~ Anymore.”_

“Ahem,” a very familiar and slightly authoritative voice coughed behind him. He stiffened at the sound, quickly silencing himself mid hum, turning red in mild embarrassment.

_Oh. Shit._

“You’re Ren Amamiya, yes? I’m Makoto Niijima, you’re Student Council President.”

_ShitshitSHIT!!!_

“Y- Yes,” He said, not daring to look at her, only staring at the wall in front of the fountain. He knew the second their eyes met, he’d have to watch her die. He really couldn’t handle that right now.

_Especially not in front of her._

“Is… Is there anything I can help you with, _Ma Mai-_ Niijima?” He asked hesitantly.

If the use of French fazed her, it didn’t show in her voice, “Yes, actually you can. I’m not sure if you’re aware of the rumors surrounding you-”

He flinched, “Or maybe you are. I’d flinch if I were in your position as well.”

“Would those be the rumors about the drugs, or the prostitution?” He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Both. Now, I’m sure I can take these with a grain of salt, but - you know, this would be much easier if you’d look at me. I simply wish to help, and to debunk some of the more heinous rumors,” Makoto finished, putting her hand on his shoulder as to either turn or comfort him in a way, causing Ren to jolt as he jerked towards her. He slammed into her, pushing her to the ground. On instinct he immediately turned to help her, an apology on his lips.

 _“Je suis d_ _ésolé-_ _”_ Their eyes met, and for the briefest instant, he saw the fire in those brilliant red eyes that would give rise to the fiercest woman he’d ever met. And then -

_Tears filled her crimson eyes as she clung to him. They mixed with the blood coming from her forehead, resulting in a scarlet liquid staining his coat. His own tears spilled onto her scarf as he held her. She smiled up at him and said something he’d never forget._

_“Bury me shallow, I’ll be back,” Then the light in her eyes finally went out._

Ren came to on the floor, sitting against the wall as he clutched his heart and wheezed, Makoto looking at him with a concerned and panicked look on her face.

“Amamiya, are you -?!” She didn’t get to finish, as Ann came barrelling out of their classroom, panting. She took one look at the state Ren was in, and the way Makoto was standing over him, and fury flashed over her face before she rushed over to them.

“WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?!” She all but roared at her senior.

Makoto sputtered, becoming flustered, “I- I don’t… I’m not… Sure?”

Ren finally got a small handle on his breathing, at least enough to get a few words out, _“Ma Chaton Rouge,_ please,” He coughed, still clutching his heart for fear to let go and start all over again, “This isn’t her fault.”

Ann took a deep breath, stopping to calm herself down, closing her eyes for a moment. Letting it out in a sigh, she opened them.

“Are you okay enough to explain what _did_ happen?”

“Panic attack.”

“Ren, I am getting beyond sick and tired of the one-word-answer crap,” Ann said wearily.

“That was actually two-”

“Stop. Just, stop.”

“Right, umm, I was already on the edge and Niijima… Reminded me of an unpleasant memory. She bares a striking resemblance to someone I know-” He took a deep breath, “Used to know.”

Makoto stepped forward, “Could one of you please explain what exactly is going on?”

“He has anxiety as far as I know.”

“‘As far as you know’?”

“Well, I’ve only known him about a week, so,” Ann shrugged, “And he’s not exactly the most forthcoming of guys anway.”

“Nothing personal. You could know me for years and I probably wouldn’t tell you,” Ren said, taking a deep breath.

“Amamiya, that’s not a healthy habit to have,” Makoto stated, staring him down.

“Story of my damn life,” Ren smirked.

“Okay, yeah, he’s feeling better,” Ann said, rolling her eyes, “When he gets sarcastic like that, it means he has the energy to start bullshitting.”

“I’d probably take offense to that if it weren’t so accurate,” Ren said, shrugging as he slowly started climbing to his feet. He almost stood up to full height before stumbling on shaky legs. Both girls moved to catch him, and for a moment, he let himself bask in the nostalgia, before getting his legs underneath him, still using them for support.

 _“Merci,_ the both of you, but I think I’m fine now,” He awkwardly smiled, leaning off of them. They both kept their hands up to catch him in case he fell again.

“Shouldn’t you be on some form of medication for anxiety this strong?”

“Oh don’t even get me-”

“I am, I just forgot to take it.”

 _“REN!”_ Ann screeched in protective fury.

Ren flinched away from the sudden noise, “Gah! _Ma Chaton Rouge,_ please!”

“How do you forget to take medication for something that serious…?” Makoto asked.

“Well, it’s not that I forgot to take them, so much as I forgot them in Ryuji’s mom’s car,” He said, getting quieter as he spoke.

 _“REN!!_ WHAT THE SHIT!”

“Takamaki, please, people are still in class,” Makoto admonished.

 _“Je suis d_ _ésolé..._ _”_ He mumbled.

“That better mean you’re getting rid of those pills, or at least getting something better.”

“Actually, I believe it was an attempt at an apology,” Makoto supplied, “Sorry, I’m not fluent in French.”

“Close enough,” She muttered, “Close as I’m getting anyways.”

“It doesn’t happen as long as I don’t take them late,” Ren argued.

“What happens if you take your medication late…?”

“Nothing of your concern.”

“Hallucinations,” Ann said.

Ren flinched at her blunt comment.

Makoto’s eyes narrowed, “What sort of hallucinations?”

“WELL, looks like it’s time to head back to class, seeyouatlunchAnn!” And he sped off.

“...Is this… Normal?” Makoto asked.

“I’m beginning to think that word holds no meaning for that guy.”

“I see. Also, did he just run away… From his classmate, and the Student Council President?”

“As far as I’ve come to find, anything even somewhat close to an authoritative figure in his life makes him antsy.”

“Oh, I see. But that wasn’t what I meant. I mostly meant him seeming to think he got away is all,” Makoto said, smiling almost deviously.

“...Oh I like you,” Ann said, an actual devious smile growing on her face.

Ren shuddered violently, causing him to trip down the stairs.

_“FILS DE PUTE!”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ann: "i've only known ren for a week, but if he died, i would kill everyone in this room, and then myself."


	16. Chapter 16

     Ren hummed a new tune on his way to the lunchroom, having stopped by the nurse’s office to patch up his bruised knee and cut lip after crashing down the stairs on the way to class.

    _“My wounds always sport such wonderfully vibrant hues,~”_ He sang, wondering how Ann would react to said new hues decorating his skin, before walking into the lunchroom.

    “Hey dude!” Ryuji smiled, playfully greeting him with a strong pat on the back. Ren hissed in pain at the jolt to his knee, which caused Ryuji to immediately inspect him, concerned for his friend’s health.

    “You alright? Somethin’ wrong?”

    “Just fell down the stairs and messed up my knee-”

    “Oh shit, your lip too!”

    “Yeah...” Ren awkwardly smiled, trying not to open the cut that had just dried.

    “Ann’s brought Niijima to sit with us, so you’re probably not getting outta that without being interrogated.”

    “Tch...”

    “I’m gonna run ahead and see if I can get them to chill a bit before you get there.”

    “Thanks Ryuji...” Sighing in mild relief, Ren sang to himself, slowly walking to his table with a bento in hand.

    _“Come straight to me, to take me away.~”_

Ren’s table entered his sight, Ann and Makoto fervently talking to each other as Ryuji awkwardly tried to butt in.

_"Come destroy this sense of inferiority in me. Come destroy it for me, and laugh gleefully about it.~”_

     Ren snuck into a chair while Ann and Makoto were deep in conversation and dug into his bento, realizing he hadn’t been eating all that much lately, be it due to the hectic situation, or another side-effect of his medication. Probably the second one if he thought about it. He should probably at least ask Takemi if she had any alternatives.

    “Dude, you ate that thing faster than Morgana digs into sushi!”

Ren looked down to realize he’d already finished the entire bento, his face turning red in embarrassment.

    “Guess I’m hungrier than I thought?” Ren said, shrugging.

    “What happened to your lip?” Makoto asked.

    “Fell down some stairs.”

    Ann simply sighed and put her head in her hands, “Of course you did.”

    “You make it sound like I’m accident prone.”

    “At this point, I’m kind of convinced you are!”

    “...I’m not! I just…”

    “How many times _have_ you fallen down the stairs this week?” Ann asked, raising an eyebrow.

    “...Three.”

    Makoto’s eyes widened, “How are you not in the hospital yet?”

    “Pure dumb skill, _ma Maid de Fer,”_ Ren said.

    “Pure dumb-? Wait, what did you just call me?”

    “Oh yeah,” Ryuji said, finishing up  his lunch, “He likes giving nicknames to people. He calls me ‘Sawleel’.”

    “I’m fairly certain I asked you to never speak French again, _mon Soleil,”_ Ren grinned, “You butcher it every time, and it kind of actually hurts me.”

    “Yeah, ok, that’s probably for the better,” Ryuji smiled back at him.

    “That still doesn’t answer my question,” Makoto said, “What did you call me?”

    “I called you _ma Maid de Fer,_ I thought you were listening.”

    “I-” She groaned a little, “In Japanese. Please.”

    “Iron Maid, or better known as an Iron Maiden.”

    “...You named me after a torture device…?” Makoto asked, tilting her head in confusion

    “Yeah, I don’t see it,” Ann said, before her eyes widened, “Wait, how come you translated _her_ nickname, but not mine?!”

    “Trust me, you’ll see it, _ma Chaton Rouge._ And I haven’t told you what it means because it’s funny.”

    “...God, you’re such a dick,” Ann said, exasperated.

    “I’m _theatrical.”_

    “Nah, you’re kind of a dick, man,” Ryuji said.

    _“Mes douleurs cardiaques!”_ Ren dramatically grabbed his chest, “Betrayal! Blasphemy! Struck down by those closest to me! Oh, what a fate!” Ren recited as he collapsed onto the floor.

    “Is he…?” Makoto trailed off.

    “He’s fine, just give him a minute to get it out of his system,” Ann said.

    “Do we have a drama club? He needs to join a drama club,” Ryuji laughed at Ren's antics.

    “Yes, we actually do,” Makoto said, “I’m not entirely sure if they’re accepting new members, but I can check later.”

    “You know, it’s no fun being theatrical like this if the audience doesn’t pay attention,” Ren said from his place on the floor.

    “Kinda the point dude,” Ryuji pointed out, “Sooner you stop...this, the better.”

    “Fair enough,” Ren said, getting back into his chair, “Still, y’all suck.”

    “So, does Morgana usually put up with this?” Ann asked.

    “Oh, hell no, he climbs out the window the second I start talking to myself.”

    “Who’s Morgana?” Makoto asked.

    “My cat. Great conversation, really. Well, if we’re talking about him, at least.”

    “You gave a male cat a woman’s name…?”

    “He named himself.”

    “Huh?”

    “You had to be there.”

    “Wha…?”

    “Welcome to our past week.” Ann said.

    “Screw you, I’m a _delight.”_

    “Considering how our first meeting went, I’m not sure how true that is,” Ryuji said.

    “Okay, only about 10 percent of that day was my fault, the rest was all that rat bastard, and you know it.”

    “Who are you talking about?” Makoto asked.

    _“Kamoshida,”_ Ren growled.

    “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but chill out a bit dude,” Ryuji said, patting Ren on the back a bit.

    _“_ _Je veux le tuer,_ _”_ Ren hissed, wringing a part of his sweater in his hands.

“Well that sounded… Incredibly violent,” Ann said, her eyes wide, sweating a bit at the implications of that coming from someone with an assault record.

    “That’s because it was. Someone distract me, please.”

    “Uh… So, Takamaki! I heard Suzui’s getting out of the hospital soon!” Makoto said quickly, very nervous at Ren’s blatantly obvious violent tendencies.

    Ann’s face lit up at the mention of Shiho, “Oh! Yeah, she’s doing a lot better after…” she trailed off.

    “Okay, not the best topic to choose as a distraction,” Ryuji said, pointing to Ren and his increasingly murderous aura. And then there was the wildfire growing in Ann’s eyes as she started clenching and unclenching her hands; it almost looked like she was flexing claws. Makoto looked around desperately, looking for anything at all to catch the attention of her enraged juniors.

    “SO, how about we go check out the clubs???”

    Ren immediately looked up, a small twinkle in his eyes.

    “Oh, I don’t like that look,” Ryuji said. At his words, Ann’s rage quieted as she looked over at Ren to see what Ryuji meant.

    “Ren.” She said warningly.

    “Yes.”

    “No, wait, stop-”

    “YES!” Ren yelled, jumping out of his chair and running off.

    “What have I done?” Makoto asked Ann, her eyes wide with mild horror.

    “I’m not entirely sure but there’s no way this ends well,” The blonde answered. She looked over at Ryuji, “Are you gonna help?”

    “Uh… Yeah, sure,” He said, standing up, “He’s prolly gonna hurt himself again if I don’t.”

     They heard Ren’s maniacal laughter in the distance, along with the screams of about four different people.

     “SHIT, TIME TO GO GUYS!”

     They all jumped out of their seats, quickly speed walking, by the request of Makoto, towards the sound of rapid French. Bursting into the drama club room, they looked over the startled club members, not seeing a single head of fluffy hair.

     “Alright, where is he?” Ann demanded.

     “E- Excuse me…?” A tall white haired student gawked.

    “The crazy French kid,” Ryuji said.

    A preppy, red twintail adorning girl directed them to the only open window in the room, leading out to the courtyard. After the group headed out, a blue haired girl leaned into the box in the corner of the room.

    “They’re gone now.”

    _“Merci.”_

“Why were you avoiding them again…?”

    “Because they wish the best of me.”

    “Isn’t that just… Friendship?”

    “Well, yeah, I love them all, but holy _shit_ I do not need that right now.”

    “I don’t… Wait, ‘love’?”

    “Yup. Anyway, thanks for covering for me, now if you’ll all excuse me, I have a coup d’etat to plan,” Ren said, sauntering out of the room.

    “...Who was that Yuu?”

    “Well, all I can say is that he definitely wasn’t here last year Naoto.”

* * *

 

    **Afternoon**

**School Gate**

 

“Did you seriously run back to the lunchroom to get seconds after we left?” Ryuji asked, leaning against the wall of the alley just outside school.

    “Yeah, where else would I have gone?”

    “I’m pretty sure he was on his third when we found him actually,” Ann sighed.

    Ren was silent.

    “I swear to god if you had more than that-”

    “Okay, to be fair, I hadn’t eaten all day-”

    “How many.”

    “What?”

    “How many did you eat.”

    “... Four.”

    _“Jesus Christ,_ how are you this skinny?” Ann exclaimed, poking his ribs, resulting in him groaning in pain.

    “Lucky for you I’m nicer than Shiho,” Ryuji said, texting on his phone.

    “You’re texting her right now, aren’t you?” Ren accused.

    “Yup.”

    “I swear to god Ryuji-” Ren cringed, cutting off mid sentence, “I think I’m regretting eating that much...”

    “So what exactly are we waiting on anyway?” Ryuji asked.

     “Morgana,” Ren said, “He went for a walk to stretch his legs a little while ago. Should be getting back right about -”

     “I’m back,” Morgana called out.

     “- Now,” Ren finished, “We can head out now.”

     “So she’s coming with us this time around?” Morgana asked, gesturing to Ann.

     “That’s right,” Ren confirmed, “Call it a hunch, but I get the feeling she’ll be quite helpful after today.”

     “Well, if you’re sure,” Morgana said uncertainly.

     “I am.”

     “So,” Ann said, “Is there anything I should know going into this?”

     “Not really, you got a pretty effective crash course the first time. Just, brace yourself, follow my lead, and you should be pretty safe going in.”

     “What do you mean, ‘pretty safe’?

     “Always plan for the unplannable, _ma Chaton-”_

     “YOU!!” A high pitched, yet incredibly terrifying voice cried out.

     “Oh shit-” Ren cursed, immediately dropping into a combat stance before he saw who was marching towards them. He spotted a familiar pink sweater and hair fluffier than his.

     “YOU DESTROYED MY PLANTS!!” Haru screeched, a ball of horrifying curls and secretly bodybuilder level of strength.

_Destroyed her…? Oh. Ooohhhhhh. OHHHHH SHIT!_

     “W- Wait, WAIT IT WAS AN ACCIDENT, I SWEAR-” Ren cut off as he was slammed against the wall.

     “No, that’s fine, really guys! Just let her kill me, that’s _great!”_ Ren choked out to his dumbfounded teammates.

     “Why did you knock them over? WHY?! I’ve been caring for them for months! MONTHS!”

     “I had a panic attack and accidentally knocked them over when I fell and I forgot to put them back because I was too focusedongettingsomewheresafeI’MSORRY!” He said all in one breath, and started gasping after he finished.

     Haru blinked. She blinked again, “You… Had a panic attack?”

     “Yes, now can you please let me go?”

     “Oh! Oh, I’m so sorry, I didn’t realise,” She softly apologized, her personality doing a complete 180, “I’ve just been so stressed out with everything lately, and this pushed me off the edge a bit. Is there anything I can do to make this right? I have some plants and whatnot that should be good for relieving stress and such.”

     “It’s… It’s fine, really. You don’t need to give me anything-” Ren tried to assure her.

     “Absolutely not, I insist! Stressed out or not, that’s no way for me to treat one of my juniors-”

     The world began swirling as it bled out of existence.

     “Oh SHIT-” Ryuji cursed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations:  
> Mes douleurs cardiaques - My heart aches  
> Je veux le tuer - I want to kill him.


	17. Chapter 17

      “RYUJI!”

      “YOU BONEHEAD!”

_       “Mon Soleil,”  _ Ren groaned.

      “Oh my goodness!” Haru exclaimed, placing a hand to her mouth in surprise. 

      “I’m sorry, I panicked! She was screaming, no one was doing anything, and I had my phone out so I just…” He trailed off.

      “So you just dragged us all to the Metaverse in hopes it would get her to stop?”

      “Kinda? I guess? I don’t know what I was thinking!”

      “Clearly you weren’t thinking at all!” Mona chided Skull.

      “Hey you can just shut it cat!”

      “I AM NOT A -!”

      “Oh my! What a cute costume!” Haru exclaimed after looking at Mona.

      Mona seemed to choke on his words at being called ‘cute.’

      “Well this is a giant clusterfuck,” Joker said, raising his arms in exasperation.

      “What is exactly going on anyways? What happened to your clothes?” Haru said, destroying what little peace and sanity they had left.

      “Look, Haru,  _ ma Monstre Rose, _ I really don’t have the time to explain… Well any of this, really, so for your own safety, and my sanity, I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” Joker said, gesturing to the exit as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

      “How did you know my name?” Haru asked.

      Ren’s head snapped up, his hand falling to his side as he faltered.

_       Oh God damn it all. _

      “... I just want you to know, I am deeply, truly sorry about this, and I will give you a proper apology once we all leave. And I politely request that you do not share any of this with the rest of the student body, or any of the faculty.”

      “What are you-?”

      She didn’t get to finish before he picked her up bridal style and ran her over to the exit as she had a completely dumbfounded look on her face, setting her down gently before giving her one final push out of the Palace. Dusting off his hands, he walked back to his stupefied team.

      “Well, that’s one crisis postponed. Shall we?”

      “Wait, wait, wait,” Ann said, “How come all of  _ that _ didn’t set off a panic attack, but just looking at Niijima had you curled up in a ball?”

      Joker shrugged, “Dunno. Just lucky I guess? Anyway, that doesn’t really matter. Right now, we have a false king to dethrone,” He said, grandly gesturing to the castle before them.

* * *

 

      Ann looked at the castle, seething. Just  _ looking _ at this damn thing pissed her off so much! She couldn’t believe she had lived under this bastard’s thumb for so long. For all the good it did, the son of a bitch went after Shiho the second he saw the chance. Ann clenched her fists, as angry tears filled her eyes.

_       My… It’s taken far too long. _

      Ann’s eyes widened as the inside of her head  _ pulsed _ and she fell to to the ground in agony.

_       Tell me… Who is going to avenge her if you don’t? Forgiving him was never an option. Such is the scream of the other you that dwells within. _

      “You’re… You’re right! He can’t… He won’t get away with this!” Ann cried out amidst the pain as a red mask settled on her face.

**_I am thou, thou art I. We can finally forge a contract._ **

      “I hear you… Carmen. No more holding back!”

**_There you go… Nothing can be solved by restraining yourself. Understand? Then I’ll gladly lend you my strength._ **

      Ann reached up and ripped off her mask, and everything went white.

* * *

 

      When Ann fell to the ground, Joker’s eyes widened in surprise, and he was barely able to stop Skull and Mona from rushing to her side.

      “What are you doing Joker?!” Skull demanded.

      “Don’t either of you recognize the state she’s in?” Joker asked, keeping his eyes squarely on Ann, “She’s Awakening. And a  _ lot  _ earlier than I expected.”

      “You knew this would happen?” Mona asked incredulously.

      “I figured it might. Why do you think I let her tag along this time?”

      “This… This isn’t easy to watch man,” Skull said as Ann continued writhing in pain.

      “I know it isn’t, but it’ll be over soon,” Joker said.

      Suddenly, Ann reached up and  _ ripped _ off her mask, setting off an explosion of light and cobalt flames. 

**“Time to make a King our** **_slave._ ** **”**

_       “Merci _ Carmen,~” Ann purred.

      “Ah,  _ bonjour, ma Chaton Rouge, _ how are you feeling?” Joker asked with a smirk on his face.

      “I feel great, actually!” She said with a grin, before suddenly her eyes widened, “Wait…  _ That’s _ what you’ve been calling me?!”

      “Oh, you speak French now,” Joker noted..

      “That isn’t the point! Why would you call me a red kitten?!” Ann demanded as Carmen disappeared and her mask settled on her face. Suddenly, the fatigue of Awakening caught up to her, and she pitched forward with a groan. Joker rushed forward and caught her.

      “I called you that because it seemed to fit, and it sounded cute,” He told her with a grin.

      “You… Jerk,” Ann panted, too tired to do anything about her blushing at his comment. At least her mask covered most of her face.

      “Kekeke.”

      “Shiho was right.”

      “I don’t even care anymore.”

_       I fucking care so much it physically hurts pretending not to. _

      Ann started laughing, “Liar.”

      Joker scoffed in mild annoyance.

      “Did you just click your tongue at me?”

      “Maybe. Anyway, can you walk? We need to get to a safe room so you can rest up a little.”

      “Yeah, I think I can manage,” Ann said, stepping away from him, albeit a bit wobbly.

      “And now you know why I had a fever.”

      “But it didn’t hit me that bad?”

      “I… Awoke in my sleep.”

      “How does that work?” Skull asked.

      “Long story. One that will possibly get you all killed if I tell it now,” Joker muttered gravely, a nauseous look on his face.

      Taking a deep breath, he continued in a more chipper tone, stating, “So, who feels like storming a pervert castle?”

      “You know one of these days, you’re gonna give somebody whiplash dude,” Skull deadpanned.

      “I quite honestly live for that day.”

      It was at that moment that Ann decided to look down.

      “WHAT IN THE HELL AM I WEARING?!” She screeched, desperately trying to cover her exposed cleavage, face alight in embarrassment and indignation.

      “You’re clothes here are the manifestation of your inner rebellious spirit,” Mona explained.

      “So her inner self is… a dominatrix?” Skull asked, spying the plain leather whip that manifested around Ann’s waist.

      “Ah, that’s right!” Joker said, following his teammates line of sight, “Thank you for reminding me Skull,” and he reached out into the air, entering his metaphysical storage space.

      As Ann chewed Skull out for calling her a dominatrix, of all things, Joker pulled out a small number of items: weapons for Panther, and a few different protectors and accessories. Since he now had his vanguard members, it was high time they were all properly equipped.

      “Panther,” He called out, getting the attention of the squabbling blondes.

      “Are… Are you talking to me?” Ann asked.

_       “Oui, _ I am. What self respecting Phantom Thief doesn’t have a striking codename?”

      “‘Panther’...” She tried it out, “Yeah. Yeah, I like it!

      “Wait, how did you realize she’d be a red cat, or… Rogue Shat On?”

      Joker and Panther both proceeded to cringe at Skull’s horrible pronunciation before Joker cringing yet again at being called out.  

      “First, Skull, Ryuji,  _ mon Soleil, _ I will actually pay you to  _ never speak French again, please,  _ God, you didn’t even get the  _ grammar  _ right _. _ Second, I didn’t know.  _ Chaton Rouge _ just seemed to fit, in a way. I can’t really explain it,” Joker said with a shrug.

      “Oh… Well I guess that makes sense. So, whatcha got there? Weapons for Panther?”

      “Yes, but also a little something extra for all of us,” He said, holding up the accessories, “These will help protect us. You can all make your picks while Panther’s getting used to her gear.”

      “Ooh,” Panther exclaimed with a small twinkle in her eye, never one to miss an opportunity to accessorize, “Whatcha got for me? Something fancy?”

      “Something  _ deadly,” _ Joker corrected, holding out the whip first, “This is known as ‘Hades’ Ignorance’, and it’s one of the deadliest weapons ever made. And this,” And he hefted a gleaming submachine gun, “Is called ‘Wild Hunt’. It packs a pretty mean punch, too.”

      “Weird names,” Panther commented, taking her new weapons.

      “I know, but trust me, they get the job done.”

      As he handed Morgana a weapon, the not-cat screeched.

      “HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET YOUR HANDS ON THIS STUFF?!”

      “Made the weapons, bought most of the accessories. You’re welcome,” Joker said.

      “How do you just make weapons like these?” Panther asked.

      “Experience.”

      “Dude, you make weapons like these often?”

      “Did you seriously forget I was sent here because I was convicted for assault?”

      “Well, no… But I didn’t actually believe it after meeting you,” Skull said, rubbing the back of his head.

_       Maybe in another timeline, but in this one? If I’m going to be ostracized no matter what I do, might as well  _ **_take a d v a n t a g e-_ **

      Joker shook his head. Where the hell had  _ that _ come from? He felt a migraine coming on as he clutched his shoulder, a mild throbbing in the scar. He reeled his hand back as he felt something on his coats lapels. He looked down to see flower petals stuck to his chest. Spider Lilies. Looking to his side, he saw practically a small garden of them cascading down his shoulder, stopping just above his arm.

      “Joker?” Mona asked, “Are you alright?”

      “Were there always flowers on my coat?”

      “Uh, no,” Skull said confused, “I don’t remember seein’ any, but now that you mention it-”

      “Oh! Aren’t those spider lilies?” Panther asked, “They’ve always been my favorite flower, but I was never-”

      “A fan of the meaning behind them,” Joker finished for her.

      “Yeah. How’d you know?”

      “Fairly common reason, most people don’t like the thought of their own mortality. I’ve learned to cope.”

      “So why do you suddenly have a corsage of them on your shoulder?” Mona asked, “I’ve never heard of rebellious spirits just changing like that.”

      “Oh, trust me Mona, it can happen,” Joker said, “Hell, this isn’t even the most extreme case of it that I’ve seen -”

_       A pristine white uniform dyed black as dark flames rise up, a madman’s insane laughter filling the space as a god of trickery looms over them - _

_       “Damn it, not now,”  _ he muttered, rubbing his forehead.

      “Hey are you alright?” Ann questioned, moving to walk over to him before stumbling, almost face planting into the ground before being caught by Skull.

      “Okay, that’s it. You need to rest for a couple hours, at least until you get your strength back. Here, lean on me,” he said as he put her arm over his shoulder and started leading her inside. Joker cleared his head and walked ahead of them, jumping into the opening they used as an entry point, before holding his hands out.

      “Here, hand her off.”

      “I can climb just fine guys!” Panther protested, despite the fact that it looked like it was taking all she had just to put one foot in front of the other.

      “Maybe, but why would you need to with two dashing young men to help you,  _ ma Chaton Rouge?” _ Joker said with a smile as Skull lifted her up into his arms.

      “Dashing men? Where?”

      “Now that was just rude.”

      “Oh boo hoo, I don’t think your cheesy pick up lines are funny, what a surprise,” Ann deadpanned.

      “And I think you’re sleep deprived.”

      “That changes  _ nothing!”  _ Panther said, holding up a finger for emphasis.

      “Shoosh,” Ren states seriously, papping her face, “You are not sane right now.”

      “Coming from the man who gets high in the Red Light District.”

      “Anxiety meds. They were anxiety meds.”

      No longer wanting to deal with Panther’s bullshit, a mischievous grin grew on Joker’s face. Panther’s eyes widened in recognition and fear of that look as Joker proceeded to all but fling her over his shoulder.

      “THE FUCK-”

      “Shoooooooooooosh. I’m tired of your shit, just chill the fuck out.”

      “NO, YOU AREN’T-”

      “Calm down, relaxation, chill out, stop  _ screaming _ .”

      “Dude, did you just quote a vine at Ann?”

      “What’s a vine?” Mona asked.

      “No, I quoted a vine at Panther. Codenames, Skull, they’ll save your life.”

      “Dude, the fuck-”

      “Seriously, what’s a vine?!”

      “Hush, shhhhut the fuck up,” Joker said, pointing to a half asleep Panther.

      “What the-?” Skull reeled back in surprise.

      “You had adrenalin in your system when you Awakened, she doesn’t have that benefit. Come on, help me get her to a safe room.”

      As Skull and Mona climbed in after Joker, they quickly and silently made their way to the nearest safe room, avoiding any and all Shadows on the way. Once inside, Joker made his way over to some chairs, moving Panther around his shoulders to fit around his neck not unlike the way one would wear a boa. After arranging her around his neck like so, he proceeded to arrange three chairs next to each other to work like a bed, lying her down on it once finished. He took a moment to look her over. He couldn’t quite stop himself from saying a few words to her, when she looked so peaceful.

_       “ _ _ Des rêves agréables, ma Chaton Rouge. Je t'aime,”  _ And he discreetly placed a small kiss on her mask, before straightening up and turning to Skull and Mona. 

_       Here’s hoping she didn’t hear that. _

* * *

 

_       I really hope he doesn’t know I heard that. _

      Ann would like to sleep. Truly she would. And she feels like she  _ should _ be sleeping, considering it feels like she’s pulled several consecutive all-nighters while cramming for final exams. But she also feels like her current state of wakefulness can be excused, considering the fact that  _ Ren just said he loved her. And then kissed her. _

      Well, okay, kissed her mask, but same difference!

      At first she thought she had misheard him. After all, she did just learn French like, five minutes ago after ripping off half of her own face, but no. No, she did not mishear him. And he was completely serious about it too. Normally, she’d expect him to crack a joke, or quote some stale meme, all with that insufferable smirk on his face; but this time he was completely serious. She didn’t quite know how she was so sure of that, but deep in her heart and soul, she knew he meant every word. Which just left one little issue.

_       HOW IN THE  _ **_FUCK_ ** _ AM I SUPPOSED TO EVEN LOOK AT HIM NOW?! _

      Would he start flirting with her now? Did she flirt back? What about Shiho? Oh god, if he and Shiho started working together on something like this, it’d be a fucking nightmare.

_       Or a dream come true, _ some traitorous part of her thought. Strangely it sounded a lot like Carmen.

_       Okay, okay, calm down girl. There’s no guarantee he’ll start flirting with you. Or that he’ll team up with Shiho and start teasing you. _

      Unbidden, an image of Ren and Shiho giving bedroom eyes to her came into Ann’s mind. Her face immediately bloomed into a bright red blush under her mask, and she shook her head to try and clear the image, or at least have it away from the forefront of her thoughts.

      “Christ that’s hot,” She mumbled to herself.

      In the corner of her eye she saw Ren twist around so fast she would’ve been worried that he either snapped his neck or at least gave himself whiplash, but she was too busy flipping her shit over the fact that  _ she had said that out loud. _

      “Uhhh…” She said intelligently. The look on his face and the fact that he was speechless probably would’ve been really funny in literally any other situation.

_       Okay girl, time to fucking roll with it. _

* * *

 

**_SHE HEARD THAT._ **

      “I- UHM- I-”

      Joker swore that he could see the exact moment her look of humiliation morphed into a smug look of joy that she had made him this flustered. It lost a bit of weight, what with the bright red flush he could see on what little of her face the mask didn’t cover, but it was still there.

_       This is Shiho all over again, Yaldabitch just smite me down right here, right now. _

      “Did I make you  _ flustered _ Joker?”

      “Pfffffffftttt- No- Nooooo...” His entire face turning red wasn’t exactly convincing.

      “So you can dish it, but you can’t _ take it, _ hmm?”

      Joker didn’t want to believe it, but that was so obviously an innuendo he couldn’t just _ignore it._ She was fucking _playing_ with him. Now, of course, that meant responding with something equally punny or inappropriate, but he was too busy choking on his spit. 

      He took a moment to  _ violently cough _ , and collect his thoughts. He looked Panther in the eye, and smirked.

_       All right, she wants to play? Let’s play. _

      “Are you a slinky? Because I’d  _ love _ to push you down the stairs- Wait, shit, wrong one-”

      “Oh honey, I’m gonna be pushing  _ you down _ on _everything_.”

_       Oh, she’s good.  _ His smirk grew.

      “DUDE-”

      “Are you a magician? Because whenever I look at you everyone else disappears.”

      “I’m not a Magician, but I am a Lover.”  _ Fuck _ these are all terrible. His smile is slowly becoming less flirty with every line.

      “I’m not staring, I’m just caught in a loop.”

      “So, what time do you have to be back in Heaven?”

      “Oh, I crawled out of Hell, and I know a Succubus when I see one.”

      She looked like she wanted to laugh, but she was too stubborn to admit defeat, “You must be one hell of a thief, ‘cause you stole my heart when we first met.”

      “Honey, you don’t need me to steal your heart, you’re perfect just the way you are.”

      “Say, that’s a nice coat. Any chance I could talk you out of it?”

      “Red leather suits you so fine, but I can only imagine how it would look on the floor.”

      “Most girls need 3 square meals a day to keep going… I just need eye contact from you.”

      “Getting to look at those eyes all day would be a dream come true.”

      Before Panther could give her retort, Skull shouted out, “STOP IT, YOU’RE KILLING MONA!”

      Both of them turned to look at their friends, and were taken aback by the scene before them: Mona was on his back, foam coming out of his mouth while Skull stared at both of them with a completely stupefied look on his face.

      “What the shit was that?!” He screamed at them.

      Joker and Panther looked at each other, then back at Skull, then back to each other, before finally neither one of them could take it, and they both fell to the floor, laughing uproariously, clutching their sides.

_       “HOLY SHIT!” _

_       “I CAN’T BREATHE!” _

_       “HOLY  _ **_SHIT!_ ** _ ” _

_       “I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS STARTED WITH ACTUAL FLIRTING-” _

      They both stiffened.

_       Oh yeah she heard that. _

      “So...” He cringed at how awkward he sounded. 

      “Yeah…”

      “Hrmmmmm.”

      “Mmmmmmmyep”

      “Okay can you two like, actually talk?” Skull asked, “Because I would really like to know what the shit just happened.”

      “Well you see,  _ mon Soleil,  _ that’s what happens when a bisexual disaster and a pathetic pan communicate when they don’t actually  _ want _ to talk.”

      “They...use bad pickup lines?”

      “Yup,” Panther said. Suddenly her eyes widened, “Wait, how did you know I’m pan?”

      “Bye,” Joker said, already halfway to the door.

      “GET BACK HERE!”

      “NEVER.”

      “ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME-”

      “WHY THE FUCK WOULD I BE KIDDING.”

      Panther tried to chase after him but it was too late. He had slipped around the corner and out of sight.

      Panther stamped her foot in anger, “Ren Amamiya I SWEAR TO GOD IF YOU DON’T GET BACK HERE- !”

      She was interrupted when Joker came running back in her direction, faster than he’d run away, and he tackled her into a corner, putting his hand over her mouth.

      “Stay quiet, two guards, coming this way. Probably more coming.”

      Her tirade at him died in her throat that the severity in his tone. She peeked over his shoulder, and indeed there were two guards already walking toward their position.

      “What do we do?!” She whispered.

      “Just stay quiet and don’t move. They’ll leave in a minute.”

      After a tense few moments of the armored knights walking by them, they both finally relaxed once the guards rounded the corner. It was then they both noticed just how  _ close _ they were in that position. They both leapt apart, Joker stammering an apology.

      “I-I’m sorry Panther, I didn’t mean to…” He gestured vaguely to the corner they were both just huddled in. Suddenly she began to snicker at him.

      “So, you can shamelessly flirt and smooth-talk with the best of them, but actually being close to somebody, that makes you lose your cool?”

      “Mmmmmmyep, yeah, that’s a fairly accurate observation.”

      “... No judgment, but have you ever actually kissed anyone?”

      “In fact I have. Multiple times, actually.”

      Joker flushed bright red regardless, as most of those situations would be R Rated if he said so himself.

      “I think you’re lying.”

      “No, I’m not I was just going down memory lane a bit… Most situations in which I’ve kissed people ended up fairly… Intimate.”

      Panther seemed surprised by that, “So...tongue-”

      “HAVE YOU SUCKED DICK BEFORE?!” Skull yelled down the hall for obviously no reason in particular.

      “I’ve sucked some dick,” Joker called down the hall to him, “And received glowing reviews, too!”

      “Seriously?” Panther asked.

      Joker grinned, “Well, they weren’t exactly speaking coherently at the time, but I got the gist. I’ve also licked some clit too, if you were wondering.”

      Panther’s eyes glazed over for a few seconds, before she shook her head, “No, nope, not happening, you aren’t distracting me again! Answer my damn question, how did you know I’m pansexual?!”

      “Uhhhhhh- OH FUCK ME UP THE ASS, FUCKIN’ ANAL SEX-” Joker screamed as a guard came around the corner.

      “WAIT, YOU’VE DONE THAT TOO?!”

      “NOT THE TIME FOR THAT SKULL!”

      “I MEAN WE HAVE A LITTLE TIME-” 

      “SHUT THE FUCK UP RYUJI-” Panther screeched before they were ambushed.

      One of the guards, a bicorn, immediately lunged at Joker before he could even think of dodging, making him bite his tongue as his nose started rapidly bleeding. Stumbling a bit, he raised his dagger to retaliate, before the second bicorn rammed into his stomach, causing him to spit up the blood coming out of his bit tongue. He keeled over onto the floor, clutching his stomach as he fell onto one knee. He could hear a screech of rage, causing him to look up, flames dancing furiously before him as the screams of the damned echoed throughout the Palace itself. She practically danced around their attacks as Carmen burned them alive.

      Ryuji finally got a lightning bolt in on each of the bicorns, allowing them to perform an All-Out Attack. Rushing forward, Panther and Skull immediately finished them off, not caring for the bicorns enough to spare them at this point.Panther’s flames continued to burn high even after the bicorns had long turned to dust. Joker’s eyes widened at the look of rage and hatred on her face.

_       “THE BASTARD WILL **DIE!”** Panther had screeched, not realizing the life she was taking wasn’t Kamoshida’s as she burned Ryuji alive, screams echoing around the Palace, “FALL DOWN TO YOUR KNEES! YOU WILL REAP THE HATE YOU’VE SEWN!”  _

      “No… not again,” Joker groaned out as he tried to climb to his feet, reaching out for Panther, humming in stress and delirium as pain coming from his shoulder hit him full force,  _ “I will carry Hell to your doorstep…” _ However, his arms started wobbling, and just as his legs gave out and the floor rushed up to meet him, Panther turning to watch in horror, fury dying out, Joker had enough clarity left for one last thought:

_       I have really got to stop passing out. _

      And then the world went black as his head hit the ground.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all! So, as you can plainly see, the post dates between this chapter and the previous one is much longer than usual. For those of you who haven't asked, or if you don't read the comments, I (Blutstrom) have a job now. Pay's pretty good, all things considered, but it still leaves me pretty drained at the end of my shift, so I don't really have the mental energy to do any writing after I get home; have to save it for my days off. As such, the update schedule is going to have to slow down a bit
> 
>  
> 
> Thank you all in advance for understanding

**Afternoon**

**Leblanc**

****

“Thanks a bunch Doc,” Sojiro sighs, pouring a cup of coffee before sitting down across from her, “I really appreciate this.”

“Not at all,” Takemi said, taking the cup, “I’ve been meaning to speak with you anyway. How has the kid been doing? Taking his meds?”

“Yeah, far as I know, he’s been pretty good about that, or at least with his anxiety meds. Not so sure about the sleeping pills you gave him, haven’t seen a lick of those since he got ‘em,” Sojiro says, frowning as he grows concerned at the thought, massaging his forehead in stress, “Those bags under his eyes only seem to be getting worse.”

Takemi sighed, slightly irritated, “Yeah, that’s what I was afraid of. He seemed the type to deny problems until he simply can’t ignore them anymore.”

“Why would he not want to sleep though?” Sojiro scoffed, slightly incredulous.

“Any number of reasons, really. Nightmares, being the most obvious. Has he been through any significantly traumatic events you know of, be it recent or not?”

_Is she insinuating something?_

“No, not that I know of, other than his arrest, which was… Pretty bad. He tried to protect a girl from a drunk man. He was charged with assault.”

Takemi’s eyebrow raised at this, “Wait, back up. What? He protected someone and was _punished_ for it?!”

“I know. The man he ‘assaulted’ was apparently influential and had enough money to make the kid the bad guy. Shit stain probably just fell on his ass and bruised something.”

“More than that, what the Hell is that going to teach Ren? He’s just a kid, for crying out loud, what’s going to happen the next time something like this happens?”

“God, I hope that doesn’t happen, from what I’ve heard of Juvie, kid’s had it bad enough,” Sojiro groaned, staring up at the ceiling, “I took him in because I didn’t want him to end up like Futaba, or worse.”

But then Sojiro smiled somewhat fondly, “But I don’t think that’ll be too much of a problem. I’ve only known him a little while, but even I can tell. That’s kid’s a lot tougher than he looks.”

Sojiro flinched as the front door slammed open just before Takemi could even attempt a reply.

“Jesus, kid! Careful with th- DEAR GOD!!” Sojiro leapt from his chair at the sight before him. Ren, unconscious, being carried by two blonde kids, with the cat trailing behind the trio worriedly.

“Dammit Ryuji! We were SNEAKING him in, not ramming down the damn door!”

“I’m sorry, I’m flippin’ out!”

“So am I, but you don’t see me kicking doors down!!”

“BOTH OF YOU TELL ME WHAT THE FU- HELL IS GOING ON!”

 _“I knew he was narcoleptic, fucking knew it,”_ He could hear Takemi mutter behind him.

“Oh!” The girl exclaimed, _“Shit,_ um, hi, you must be Ren’s guardian!” She said a little too cheerily, “I’m Ann, this is Ryuji, it’s so great to finally meet you!”

“The hell happened to him?!” Sojiro barely stops himself from roaring at the two teens, rushing over to his charge.

“S- Sorry about this,” the boy- Ryuji, apparently, spoke up, “We were just- Ummm, walking home from a… Study session, and I guess this guy was a lot more exhausted than he let on!”

Sojiro sputters in disbelief, sighing as he leaned on one of the nearby booths, his entire body sagging.

“Takemi, what did you say was something he probably had? Narco-something?”

“Narcolepsy. Which he very clearly has. Which I should’ve seen from the _very beginning, god dammit-_ ” She began to mutter quieter than Sojiro was capable of hearing.

“Just- Just lie him on his bed in the attic. Thank god Takemi’s already here.”

“I don’t have what I need here,” Takemi said, getting up and walking out the door, “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

“...Thank you Takemi,” Sojiro sighs.

“It’s fine Sojiro, I’m the one who screwed up.”

“Wait, no-”

Takemi was out the door before Sojiro could rebut the statement. Sighing, Sojiro took off his glasses to rub his eyes, before calming himself and walking upstairs to join the three teens.

“How’s he doing?” Sojiro asked.

“Uh… Good, I guess?” Ryuji said, “I don’t know, he’s at least breathing normal, so that’s something.”

“Was he ever not breathing normally during this?” Sojiro looked toward him, panic in his face and voice.

“I don’t know! I was just pointing it out! Isn’t that like, a usual concern with something like this?!” Ryuji said, panic setting in his face as well.

The cat started yowling, seemingly directed at Ryuji.

“Shut it, ya damn cat! I don’t-!”

“Are you talking to the cat?!”

“QUIET!!” Ann screamed, garnering the attention of the room, and possibly the entire neighborhood.

“Thank you. Now, we’re all going to sit here quietly watching Ren, while we wait for that nice doctor lady to come back. Clear?”

The two men nodded, and Sojiro could’ve sworn he saw the cat nod too. He couldn’t take this, he needed a smoke. As he went downstairs to grab a cigarette, he couldn’t quite stop the quiet chuckle that escaped him at what just transpired.

_Hell of a lady friend you got there kid. Here’s hoping you know how to treat her right. For her sake and yours._

* * *

****

“Jeez Ann, you trying to wake up the whole neighborhood?!”

“Well _I’m sorry,_ but if someone didn’t freak out Ren’s guardian-!”

“His name is Boss,” Morgana supplied helpfully.

“Thank you Morgana,” Ann said before turning back to Ryuji, “If you hadn’t freaked out Boss with the breathing thing, I wouldn’t have had to get loud!”

“I was tryin’ to be helpful, dammit!”

The argument was cut off by the sound of groaning.

“Ugh… Where…?” Suddenly clarity returned to Ren’s slowly opening eyes and he sat up quickly, gauging his surroundings, only relaxing once he recognized Leblanc’s attic and his friends. And then the pain caught up to him.

“Oh, _shit, fuck,_ okay. Bad. Really, really bad,” He groaned while gripping every part of him that hurt. _So, every part,_ he thought as he curled into the fetal position.

Ren could feel an especially deep burning in his right shoulder, which he could _very clearly feel_ was coming from his scar.

“Holy shit, Ren are you okay?! Shit, stupid question, sorry!” Ryuji started rambling in worry.

“Obviously _not, holy shit,”_ He groaned miserably, laying back down slowly, “Christ, any of you get the number of the fucking _bulldozer_ that ran over me?”

“Fuck, it must be actually hell if he’s _admitting_ to his pain,” Ann muttered.

“Do bulldozers even _have_ plates?” Morgana questioned.

“Not the point, _mon Petit Espoir,”_ Ren groaned, an arm covering his eyes, “Just let me die already, _fuck.”_

“No, we’re not doing that,” Ann said.

“There is no god, only _une douleur_ _énorme_ who pretends to be one, and you are horrible friends.”

“No, you’re just being overdramatic again.”

“Possibly. Not to change the subject, but where’s Sojiro? We’re in Leblanc, right?”

Ren attempted to hide the panic in his voice, failing miserably as Ann raised an eyebrow.

“Do you see Sojiro… As your dad or something?” Ann full-on smirked.

 _“Who told you,”_ Ren snapped a little too quickly, before his eyes widened, “Oh, I really shouldn’t have admitted that in this room.”

A few blocks away, a young girl sat staring at her computer screen, trying to figure out the puzzle that was this _fucking lunatic_ who was boarding in her adoptive father’s café.

Back in Leblanc’s attic, Ryuji asked confusedly, “What are you talking about?”

“Nothing, just try not to say anything too… Sensitive in this room until further notice.”

“What, like Phantom Thief stuff?”

Ren took a moment to breathe deeply through his nose, and remind himself how much he loved this man.

 _“Oui, mon Soleil,_ like the Phantom Thief stuff.”

“Okay, that’s cool I guess, but why?”

 “Because I had a slight breach in privacy and I haven’t quite worked it all out yet.”

“Wait, you see me as a father figure?”

While everyone was distracted, nobody had noticed Sojiro processing that brief comment, thankfully not paying attention to the rest of the conversation.

 _“...Putain de dieu,”_ Ren muttered under his breath.

* * *

 

“Okay, wait, seriously kid, _do you see me as a father figure??”_ Sojiro sputtered because, _Wow,_ he did not expect that. He seriously hasn’t even been taking care of this kid for more than three days.

 _The fuck is wrong with this kid’s home life for him to become this attached to me_ **_this_ ** _quick? Or at all?_

“N- No, trust me, I don’t see you as a father figure.”

“Kid, I’m touched, but I’m not exactly the guy you want as a father figure.”

“Says the guy who took in Futaba.”

_The fuck??? When did he meet Futaba?!_

“The fuck? When did you meet Futaba?!”

_Shit, I said that out loud._

“When she bugged my room.”

* * *

 

Sojiro stared incredulously at Ren, processing the multiple major bombshells that were just dropped on him.

_Fuck, I’ve said too much._

“G- Gotcha!! Haha… Ha...” Ren yelled abruptly, coughing a bit at the end due to both his awkwardness and steadily decreasing health.

"How did you know about Futaba?"

"First day I got here, got some texts from an unknown number, laying down some ground rules and some thinly veiled threats for the new 'delinquent,'” Ren grimaced a bit, never liking the title his assault got him stuck with, “Just a concerned daughter, turns out. I can show you the texts if you want."

“That’s... That's fine kid, just don’t take her threats to heart, alright?” Sojiro sighed, chuckling a bit, “You’re no ‘delinquent,’ and she only means well.”

“...Thanks Sojiro.”

“Anytime kid,” Sojiro says, waving him off, “I gotta go home to get some things done, see ya tomorrow.”

“Night Boss.”

Sojiro snorted, “Takemi’s gonna be by to check up on you, so I’m gonna leave the door unlocked. Be safe,” He finished, disappearing down the stairs.

Ren sighed in relief before falling back onto his bed, “...I’m _so_ glad I got away with that.”

“What if he checked your phone?” Ann asked.

“I have texts to back it up.”

“So, you weren’t lying just then?”

“Oh I was _absolutely_ lying,” Ren answered shamelessly, “You’ll find I’m very good at that.”

“You sound way too proud of that.”

“Eh, probably. But it’s served me well over the years, so I just consider it another skill.”

“Okay then… Look, it’s getting pretty late, and you seem… Relatively okay. We’ll see you later, alright?”

“Yeah, if I stay any later my mom will have my head!”

“Sure, see you guys.”

Ann gave him a concerned smile, before following Sojiro down the stairs, Ryuji just behind her. He smiled to himself for a bit, reminiscing about memories he shared with them in better days. Better days that are now gone forever.

A ding echoed throughout the empty room, breaking his train of thought. He grabbed a (thankfully) undamaged phone out of his pocket, opening up a text dump from Futaba. Before he even read it, he knew something was wrong.

 **_Alibaba:_ ** _Are you alright?_

“I thought you’d never talk to me again,” Ren scoffed, weakly smirking.

 **_Alibaba:_ ** _You mean after you magically disappeared for an hour, with seemly no evidence of you departing, before reappearing physically exhausted and resulting in me feeling significantly better emotionally?_

 **_Alibaba:_ ** _You must be crazier than I initially thought._

“I guess I should’ve expected this.”

 **_Alibaba:_ ** _You’re a fucking wizard, hell yeah you should’ve expected this._

“I’m not a wizard.”

 **_Alibaba:_ ** _Then what the fuck are you???_

Ren shrugged, scoffing as he teasingly smirked, “Hell if I know.”

Ren paused, waiting for Futaba’s reply. He started to become concerned until a comforting ding resounded in the empty attic space.

 **_Alibaba:_ ** _One sec._

“Well that’s not ominous at all.”

After a few minutes of waiting, Futaba replied.

 **_Alibaba:_ ** _Whatever wizardry you used helped. I talked to my dad a little._

Ren smiled wide, proud of Futaba and overjoyed to hear her bonding with Sojiro.

 **_Alibaba:_ ** _The fuck, why are you crying???_

“I’m very proud.”

 **_Alibaba:_ ** _Do you have literally any chill at all?_

“Bring the heat,” Ren teased as he wiped at his face almost frantically.

 **_Alibaba:_ ** _Jesus Christ, if you’re god or something, then no wonder the universe is such a fucking mess._

“Fuck god, god’s an asshole.”

 **_Alibaba:_ ** _Ah, so you’re Satan, that makes sense._

“That… actually works on a couple of levels, oddly enough.”

 **_Alibaba:_ ** _Okay, but seriously, how the fuck do you know so much about me._

“I’m living with your dad on probation, I’m supposed to know minimum information about his home life, and it was pretty easy to figure out the person threatening me about him is his daughter.”

 **_Alibaba:_ ** _I wasn’t actually threatening you though?_

“What do you call bugging my room?”

 **_Alibaba:_ ** _Surveillance, duh._

“Now who has no chill?”

 **_Alibaba:_ ** _Still you. Besides, I never claimed chill, I just pointed out your lack thereof._

_“Touche.”_

**_Alibaba:_ ** _Okay, you’ve explained how you know about me, but how the fuck did you get her to stop?_

“Who?”

 **_Alibaba:_ ** _You know damn well._

“Ah… You mean Shiho then.”

 **_Alibaba:_ ** _There’s no way you knew she’d be up there that day._

“Right place, right time.”

 **_Alibaba:_ ** _Bullshit._

“Look, I happened to be up there for… Fuck, similar reasons, okay?”

 **_Alibaba:_ ** _Excuse me???_

“To calm down! Not- Not what she was there for. Similar, not the same.”

 **_Alibaba:_ ** _How the flying fuck are those similar?!_

“We both needed help, and a good shoulder to cry on.”

 **_Alibaba:_ ** _Gay._

“Not…? At all??”

 **_Alibaba:_ ** _Whatever, if that’s it, then how did you… Help me?_

“Well, I haven’t really helped, not yet. Right now, all you’ve felt so far is a couple of nudges in the right direction, so to speak.”

 **_Alibaba:_ ** _Well… Thank you. And you might wanna stop talking out loud now, your weird emo doctor is back. Let her actually help you this time, doofus._

The door downstairs creaked open.

 _“Merci, ma Chère Sœur,_ talk to you later.”

 **_Alibaba:_ ** _Seeya, you weird French dork._

Ren powered off his phone just as Takemi opened his door, a serious expression on her face.

“We need to talk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> une douleur énorme - a massive pain


	19. Chapter 19

        “I figured. How are you by the way? It’s been awhile.”

        “It’s been three days, now stop trying to change the subject.”

        “Yikes...”

        “You had  _ hallucinations and didn’t tell me?! _ ”

        “Fuck, they told you everything.”

        “Hell yeah they did! Because they knew you weren’t going to! I cannot  _ believe  _ you would risk your life like that!”

        Ren winced, beginning to fidget with his shirt, “L- Look I didn’t realize it’d get that bad-”

        “What else has your medication been causing?”

        “...I’ve been eating a lot less, feeling tired, and forgetting important things,” he admitted, not looking her in the eye.

        “Christ, ok, just hand over the pills,” Takemi sighed, rubbing her face. 

        Ren blinked, eyes widening, “W- Wait, I need them, it’s so much worse without them,  _ I don’t want to see them again- _ ” He desperately begged, rambling,  _ “It’s horrible, I can’t do this- _ ”

        “Calm down, I’m not just gonna leave you hanging!” Takemi said, putting a hand on his shoulder, “I’m giving you a different prescription, not cutting you off.”

        “....What?”

        “Jesus fu- Okay, listen: getting medication for your situation isn’t just one type fits all, everyone has different types that work better or worse for them. You got stuck with something that  _ didn’t work for you.  _ And I’m sorry for that, that’s on me. But, now that we know what doesn’t work, it’ll make it easier to find what does, okay?”

        “O- Okay. Okay then. So how long will finding, well… A new prescription take?”

        “Hopefully not too long, but I’ll have to look at the pill’s ingredients and the side effects to find something that most likely won’t worsen your condition. Sorting through medication with certain filters in mind will take awhile.”

        “...Alright.”

        “‘Alright’? What do you mean?”

        “I mean I’ll bear it. It sucks, yeah, but I don’t think I’ll be having any more flashbacks for a while.”

_         Provided I don’t run into Yusuke anyway. _

        “And I’m glad to know I’m not getting completely cut off,” he said with a small smile.

        “I can see you cringing. Now that statement  _ might _ become true if you promise to stick with your friends from now on and not wander into random districts.”

        “One time.”

        “That one time ended with you being carried home by your friends after sundown!”

        “Oof, not fair.”

        “Quote memes at me one more time,  _ I dare you.” _

        “You recognized it.”

        “Okay look, do you want me to get you those pills or not?”

        “Wait, no, I’ll stop-”

        “I was joking.”

        “You’re a sadist, you know that?” He deadpanned.

        “And you’re a masochist yourself,” She said with an unimpressed look.

        “Hey! ...Okay, nevermind, I deserved that.”

        “Anyways, you should be resting,” Takemi sternly noted, punctuating it with a concerned glare, “I’m going to go back to work and get some things set up. Can I trust you to not keel over tonight if I leave you alone?”

        Ren smiled at her, “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine doctor Takemi.” 

        “Somehow, I doubt that,” The macabre doctor snarked, “Now rest. I’m pretty sure I gave you those sleeping pills for this exact situation.”

        “Alright, alright. Goodbye Dr. Takemi.”

        “Goodbye Amamiya.”

        As she left the room, he hummed a song to quicken his descent into rest.

_         “Tear them out and make up for forgotten years,”  _ He whispered,  _ “I’m shutting down under anesthesia.~” _

        And as the world faded from view…

        He opened his eyes to  _ bleu. _

 

**The Velvet Room**

 

        “Hello, Trickster,” Lavenza greeted, “How are you feeling?”

        “I’ve been better, admittedly, but it’s not as bad as it could be.”

        “I see. So, was there anything you wanted? Any… fusions or sacrifices you wished to perform?” the attendant asked, rocking back and forth on her feet.

        It didn’t take his Third Eye to see what she was asking for. There was one revamped ritual he hadn’t seen yet, and she seemed very eager to show it off.

        “Nope, I don’t think so...” Ren smirked as Lavenza squirmed in displeasure.

        “You are the worst.”

        “Yup. But seriously though, There is something I’m wanting to make. Same rules apply?”

        “Yes,” She answered, suddenly all business, “You cannot make a Persona that is stronger than your current self, and the strength and inherited techniques will depend on the Personas used.”

        “So I can’t try to fuse Satanael with someone else?”

        “Don’t even joke about that,” Lavenza’s eyes narrowed at the continued lack of a survival instinct from her guest.

        “Well it was worth a shot,” Ren shrugged, “Anyways, I’d like to fuse a Rangda. I kinda need someone who can reflect…. Physical attacks.”

        “Expecting a fistfight?”

        “More like a volleyball tournament from Hell.”

        “... I see…” She said after a few moments, “Well, that should be easy enough. Though, that Persona will require a fee, I hope you realize.”

        “I know, I’m good for it.”

        “Let’s see,” Lavenza said, searching through her tome, “With that particular Persona, and the level of strength you’re at… It will require a fee of 42,000 yen.”

        “Yeah, that’s about what I was expecting… Good thing I have the cash from Ann’s rage yesterday, shouldn’t even need to dip into my personal funds for this one.”

        “Well then, shall we Trickster,” Lavenza asked, starting to look eager again as she practically hopped over to the doors. Blue wisps of light trailed out from two parallel doors, forming Chronozon and the Stone of Scone respectively. 

        “I… Jeez, I forgot how disturbing some of these personas are...” Ren murmured to himself, shuddering as all of Chronozon’s faces glared at him at once.

        “That’s very rude you know, they are a part of you.”

        “What’s your point?”

        “I somehow forgot how self-deprecating you are.”

        “I literally gave myself a third-degree burn on purpose the last time I was here.”

        “Yes, and it was horrifying,” Lavenza growled, glaring at him somehow even more scarily than Chronozon. Her eyes widened in realization, “Wait, are you telling me you knew that would happen?!”

        “Of course I didn’t!”

        “But you aren’t sorry it happened,” Lavenza accused.

        “Well it’s going to make gym class suck even more, I can assure you that much.”

        “I really don’t appreciate your humor Trickster.”

        “Duly noted, I’ll make sure to stick to puns. Now, the fusion?”

        “Tch,” Lavenza scoffed in disapproval before signaling the personas to continue.

        Both nodding to each other, they entered the doors opposite to themselves, Chronozon to the left, the Stone to the right,  before appearing from another pair of doors, further down the hall. And another, and another, each door they left resulting in them speeding up until they finally ended up in the doors they came out of at the beginning of the ritual, slamming them shut behind them. Blue wisps crawled out from underneath the doors before solidifying as a trapdoor on the floor of the hallway. It rattled for about a full minute before slamming open as Rangda burst out of it, destroying the trapdoor in the process. The witch looked him in the eye before fading into a mask and going into him.

Lavenza looked at him with sparkles in her eyes, “So, what do you think?” She asked excitedly.

        “Congratulations on plagiarizing Scooby-Doo.”

        “Wait what- What are you talking about??”

        “That was literally the hallway gag from those old Scooby-Doo cartoons they used to run in America.”

        “Why do you watch American cartoons??”

        “I’ve been declared dead for about a month several times, I needed something to do.”

        “So instead of actually doing something with your life, you watched Scooby-Doo.”

        “Not entirely my idea. My family wouldn’t let me go out during the day.”

        “You probably could’ve learned enough to get a full scholarship even with your assault record, and yet you watched Scooby-Doo.”

        “Ok, rude, and do I look like I care about college anymore? I’ve been through this shit so often I forget to  _ eat  _ now, I don’t even think this shit’ll ever stop,” Ren sighed, “Look, it’s adorable and I got what I needed. Goodnight Lavenza.” 

        Ren quickly turned around and left the hallway, unaware of Lavenza’s concerned stare. 

        “Goodnight Ren...” She said, staring at the entrance. 

        The wood on the door that Ren walked through had begun to chip.

**4/17**

Ren stretched his limbs, flinching as he accidentally stretched the skin around his scar a bit. That was going to take some getting used to.

        “Why the hell did it have to be my right arm...” He hissed, rubbing the skin around his shoulder.

        Ren grabbed his stuff and quickly got changed. He had a few minutes before Sojiro arrived to open up shop, so he had to be fast. He got to the stairs before he tripped, barely catching himself from smashing his face on the floor. He got up, making sure no one had heard that, before shaking out his stinging hands and grimacing, dashing out the door all the while. Finally having arrived at the station, he hurried into his train car before sagging down into the last free seat and falling asleep.

 

**Shujin Academy**

 

Ren sighed, staring up at the school in disgust.

        “At least I didn’t arrive late this time…” He muttered.

        Ren leisurely walked to his classroom, just wanting to quietly get through the day and hopefully get some Thief work done with the others in the afternoon.

_         Christ how long has it been since we first set foot in Kamoshida’s Palace? _

        Just as he was walking up the stairs, he saw some members of the volleyball team in the hallway.

_         Probably just getting off whatever morning torture Kamoshida cooked up. _

        It was at that thought that a horrifying realization stopped Ren in his tracks.

_         Oh shit, gym class. _

        “Amamiya?” He heard a voice call out from about two feet behind him. He snapped out of his daze and spun around to meet the one who snuck up on him, only to find himself staring into Makoto’s - now wide - red eyes.

        “Shit, sorry senpai. You startled me there.”

        “I can tell,” She said, a little bemused, “What’s got you so worked up?”

        “Just, transfer student jitters, I guess. It’s no big deal,” He lied with a slight smile.

        “If anyone’s bothering you, do tell me,” She sternly commented, looking at him suspiciously.

_ Clearly she doesn’t think I’m the one being bothered in this situation,  _ He thought, disappointed.

        “Will do, honest,” He said.

_         Guess the rumor mill has been running rampant again. Wonder what label I’ve been stuck with this time. _

        “Excuse me?” Makoto asked.

_         Fuck, I said that out loud. _

        “Yes, you did.”

        “Damn.”

        “Look, as long as none of them are true, then you have nothing to worry about. Shujin has a reputation to keep and we aren’t against expulsion.”

        “Maybe you should be cracking down on the ones spreading those rumors if you want to keep that reputation rather than harassing the one dealing with them,” Ren growled, visibly agitated as he slouched in embarrassment, fidgeting with his shirt. He never liked this robotic persona that Makoto put on, listening to anything a teacher or her sister said to her. The sooner those particular chains broke, the better, as far as he was concerned.

_         Speaking of which,  _ Ren thought to himself as Makoto broke character, looking humiliated at what he had just told her.

        “I- I mean… I was just- That is to say…” She trailed off, grasping for an explanation.

        “Look, Niijima-senpai, I realize this school’s reputation is important to the principal, but we  _ really _ don’t need a second version of him running around in the guise of our student council president. Do you get what I’m trying to say?”

        “You… Have a point. Thank you for the, umm, Advice.”

        “So long as you understand,  _ ma Maid de Fer.” _

        “I realize I’ve been a bit harsh, but is calling me the name of a torture device really necessary...?”

        Ren grinned his Joker’s grin, “Ah, my apologies, it just seemed so… Fitting. Not entirely sure why, they just come to me.”

        “Truly the life of the party. But seriously, allow me to make it up to you. Since you’re a transfer student, I can help you study once school is over.”

        Ren’s smile became less roguish and more genuine at her offer, “I think I’d quite like that, thank you.”

        Makoto sighed in relief at his acceptance, “I’ll meet you in the nearby cafe tonight, now you better get to your next class.”

        “I’ll see you then,” Ren replied calmly. 

_         I’m not looking forward to dealing with gym class, _ He thought, visibly grim as Makoto walked out of view.

        Entering the gym, he shuddered.

        “Alright, let’s get started!” Kamoshida yelled.

        His glare lingered on Shiho, causing Ren to cringe.

        “We have a long period ahead of us.”


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Hasn't updated since August)
> 
> I CAN EXPLAIN I SWEAR!
> 
> … I work at Wal-Mart.

     Ren immediately walked over to Shiho, blocking her from Kamoshida’s view. 

“We’re going to practice volleyball today,” Kamoshida calmly said, sneering at Ren in a way that anyone who didn’t know better would think was a smile. Ren hissed at him with such a feral anger that Shiho put her hand on his shoulder to stop him.

“Calm down Ren, you don’t want to get in trouble...”

Ren sighed before picking up a ball, grabbing Shiho, and walking to one of the empty courts. Shiho walked to the other side of the net and entered a defensive stance.

“So, think you can beat me?” She smirked.

“I can guarantee that!” Ren said, before proceeding to spike the ball directly into the net, causing Shiho to laugh hysterically. He joined in the contagious mirth until she cut off abruptly. Blinking, he turned around to come face to face with Kamoshida.

     “Amamiya, if you're going to get the ball over the net, you have to raise your right arm higher,” Kamoshida says casually, tightly grabbing a hold of Ren's arm and raising it much higher than what his scar would let him go. Ren violently jerks out of Kamoshida's grasp, hissing in pain.   


“Ren, you never told me you had a shoulder injury,” Kamoshida says loudly, calling the entire class to attention, "I would've let you sit out if you did."   


“I didn't want to be a bother,” Ren muttered, looking away from the burning stares of his classmates, who were already starting to mutter amongst themselves.   


“What was that?” Kamoshida mocks quietly.   


“I didn't want to be a bother,” Ren hisses, louder this time.   


“Trust me, you're much more of a bother not telling anyone,” Kamoshida glares down at him, "Go sit out."   


Just as Ren went to sit down whilst clutching his shoulder, he felt a damp stickiness cling to his hand. 

     “On second thought, you might want to go to the nurse's office. You've reopened your wound, being a bother just as I predicted," Kamoshida utters to him, shoving a pass into his left hand, jerking his right and increasing the pain he was already in.

     “N- No, It’s fine, I’ll stay here.”

      Kamoshida raised an eyebrow at him, his eyes widening just as Ren felt something warm slide down his arm.

     “Ren! You’re bleeding!” Shiho cried out in dismay, her eyes trained on his shoulder, “I’ll take you to the nurse’s.”

     “Oh Suzui, that’s not necessary,” Kamoshida said, “I’m sure Amamiya can walk himself, why don’t you just-?”

     Ren leveled the coach with a glare so cold and fierce that the words stuck in his throat, and a cold sweat appeared on the back of his neck. By the time he snapped out of his stupor, Ren and Shiho were already halfway to the door.

     They quickly walked out the gym, only slowing once they were a fair distance down the hall.

     “I’m so sorry you got caught up in this...” Shiho said ashamedly, looking down.

     “It’s not your fault Shiho, it’s his.”

     “But he hurt you-”

     “He hurt you too, don’t you  _ dare _ blame yourself when it was the fault of that _ bastard,”  _ Ren spat, practically hissing as he forced the words from his mouth.

     “Oh shit, we need to get you to the nurse now!” Shiho exclaimed, wiping blood off her hands from where she was holding onto Ren..

     “No, it’s fine, I’m fine really.”

     “Your arm is bleeding! A lot!”

     “I’ll be fine in a little bit, soon as the bleeding stops.”

     “Which we can take care of  _ in the nurse’s office!” _

    “You might want to keep your voice down Sis, classes are still in session.”

     She silently fumed at him before taking a deep breath, “Look, I don’t know what’s going on with you right now, but there’s no way just letting that be can be good for you.”

     “... You’re probably right about that,” he admitted, “Still, I can’t afford to go to the nurse and have them call my guardian right now.”

     “Why would that be a -?!” She stopped short, “Wait a goddamn minute. Ren Amamiya, are you… Are you not supposed to be here today?!

     “I don’t want  _ anyone else  _ to see my scar, and yes, maybe, technically, my doctor insinuated that I’m not supposed to be here,” He grumbled, “Are you happy now?”

     “No! In fact I’m even more pissed! And if you think  _ I’m _ about to read you the riot act, just wait until I tell Ryuji and Ann about this!”

     “Tell me about what?” A familiar voice asked from behind. Ren stiffened.

     “Where’d you come from?” Shiho asked, turning to her friend.

     “Heard you screaming from my class,” Ann answered, gesturing behind her, “Now what exactly is going on?”

     “Ren opened his scar up,” Shiho answered before Ren could say anything in his defense, “And he’s under doctor’s orders to not be here today.”

     “What scar?” Ann asked.

     Shiho slowly turned to look at Ren, disbelief in her eyes, “... You didn’t  _ tell her?!” _

     “You’re the only one who knows, and even that was an accident!”

     “What are you two talking about?” Ann interjected.

     “Ren has a scar on his shoulder shaped like spider lilies.”

     “Oh so is that why you have… Wait,  _ what?!”  _ Ann shrieked, eyes blowing wide.

     “Yeah sure, keep screaming girls, let’s just bring the whole damn school into this mess.”

     “It’s a third degree burn.”

     “Shiho that is _ too much information.” _

     “Ren, what the hell?!”

     “Ann, It’s fine, I’m fine-”

     “You are rapidly bleeding.”

_     “Shiho I swear to fucking god.” _

     “Ren,” Ann said, “What. The fuck. Happened?”

     Ren sighed, “Look, it’s not as bad as it seems, I just had a run-in with an insane pyromaniac Shadow is all. Yes initially, it hurt like hell, And yes it can be a bit of a pain if I move my arm too much here in reality, but honestly _I’m_ _fine.”_

     “Ren, why didn’t you tell us?”

     “Because it doesn’t matter.”

     “It does matter! You’re seriously injured!”

     “One oddly shaped scar isn’t exactly what I call ‘seriously injured’ Ann.”

     “I’ll be the one to judge that.”

     “Both of you calm down. Now let’s get into the nurse’s office already, I know she isn’t there right now, so you don’t have to worry about getting caught being here,” Shiho sighed, dragging both Ren and Ann into the room.

     “I need you to take off your shirt,” Shiho ordered.

     “You’ll have to buy me dinner first-”

     “Just take off the damn shirt you discount Featherman villain.”

     “Alright, alright! Jeez, not an ounce of mercy in you is there?” Ren said, reaching for the hem of his shirt.

     “Nope,” Shiho said, crossing her arms.

     Ren sighed, removing his shirt, wincing as he peeled some of the fabric off the already congealing mess of blood. Finally, he got it all the way off, discarding it on the floor. He heard Ann softly gasp at the large bumpy scar that fully encompassed his right shoulder, as Shiho grimaced at the blood stuck to his shirt.

     “Well shit, that’s gonna take a while to heal,” Ren sighed.

     “I don’t get paid enough to deal with you.”

     “You don’t get paid, Shiho.”

     “Exactly.”

     Ren sighed heavily, exhaustion evident in his voice, “At least it was only my gym uniform. Those turtlenecks are ridiculously overpriced. And an absolute bitch to clean anyways.”

     “Y- You aren’t even phased by the massive amount of blood that came out of that scar??” Ann gaped, horror emanating from her voice.

     “Not… Really? I mean I’ve taken worse hits doing you-know-what. Don’t get me wrong though, this sucks and I’ll probably need to get it looked at, but it’s not really that big a deal,” Ren said, shrugging his not-scarred shoulder.

     Ann looked as if she were about to violently eject the contents of her stomach on the pristine tile floor.

     “Ann, you set fire to over a dozen Shadows yesterday with the force of your mind and a salsa-dancer cat lady,” Ren deadpanned.

     “Shadows don’t  _ bleed,  _ Ren,  nor do I care for their lives as much as I care for yours! And her name is Carmen!”

     “I’m sorry,” Shiho interjected, “‘Salsa-dancer cat lady’?”

     “I only say salsa because of the dress and the shoes, I don’t actually know if she can dance the salsa.”

     “Jesus Christ… What the hell is wrong with you two?!” Ann asked, dropping her head into her hands.

     “Language.”

     “Says the kid who screamed duckfuck,” Shiho snickered.

     “It was a tense situation, Shiho.”

     “I called you out for laughing like a dork.”

     “I know, it was traumatizing.”

     “Drama Queen.”

     “Oh fuck off.”

     “Language!” Shiho cackled.

     “WILL YOU TWO PLEASE TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY?!” Ann screamed suddenly.

“Right, need to clean my scar, got it,” Ren hastily said, looking around for disinfectant.

“Over here,” Shiho said before chucking the bottle at his head.

Ren ducked as the spray slammed against the wall behind him with a loud clatter.

     “Smooth,” Shiho teased.

“Were you _trying_ to hit me?” Ren sputtered.

     “Maybe. Or maybe you’re just a wimp who can’t catch for shit.”

     Ren just wordlessly gestured to his scarred shoulder, which still seemed to be bleeding a small bit.

     “Okay, a not-wimp who can’t catch for shit.”   


“Sometimes I wonder if I influenced you without meaning to, or if you were just always an asshole.”

     “She was always an asshole!” Ann piped in from the other side of the room, holding a roll of bandages above her head.

     “Okay, fair but hurtful,” Shiho said, holding a hand to her chest in mock pain, yet still smiling cheekily.   


“Anyway, here’s the bandages, Shiho, you clean him off. I don’t trust him to do a proper job,” Ann scoffed.   


“I’ll have you know I’m more than capable enough to clean and bandage my own wounds,” Ren said even as he sat down for Shiho to begin.

     “Shut up and let me clean your shitty scar,” Shiho complained, “God, It’s like you have a martyr complex or something.”

     “... You know, that might actually not be that far off,” Ren wondered aloud.

     “Oh gee, YA THINK?!” Ann commented, “Mr. ‘I’ll just summon a life-threateningly powerful Persona to save the life of a  _ complete stranger’! _ ”

     “Ah, but it was a good thing I did, no? After all,  _ you _ were that ‘complete stranger,’” Ren said with a smirk.

     “I… you…,” Ann let out a sound that was a combination of a sigh of defeat and a groan of exasperation, “I just cannot deal with you sometimes.”

     “Of course it’s not far off, you lived this one damn year over 28 different times just trying to keep everyone alive...” Shiho muttered.

     Ren stiffened, and the conversation ground to a halt as Shiho winced and gave an apologetic look to Ren.

     “What did you just say?” Ann questioned.

     “Nothing, absolutely nothing,” Ren said quickly, cursing internally.

     “No, I heard that, what is she talking about?” Ann demanded.

_      Damn damn damn DAMN IT Shiho! _

     “Like I said, absolutely nothing, I have no idea what she’s talking about, maybe she’s sick, hey Shiho _ , are you feeling alright???”  _ Ren rambled at full speed.

“Ren Amamiya, I swear to God if you don’t tell me what’s going on  _ right now-” _

“I’m not supposed to be alive.”

That took the wind out of her sails.

“...What?” She said in a quiet voice.

Ren sighed, rubbing his face.

_ Damn. _

Ren could feel his breathing quicken as he spoke, “Look, I need you to know that I had every intention of telling you, but only after  _ everyone _ was together, not just you, Ryuji, and Morgana.”

“What do you mean ‘everyone’? Tell us what?!”

“Just, please, let me explain,” Ren took a moment to gather his thoughts, and he spoke, “The Phantom Thieves of Hearts aren’t just four people. They are a group of eight people, eight very special people; my family. They have saved many lives, stolen and purified many corrupted hearts. ” 

“...And?”

“I’m afraid that’s all I can tell you right now, and I’m sorry, I wish-”

“Bullshit,” She sounded like she was choking back tears.

Ren could feel his breathing speed to the point of hyperventilating. “Ann,  _ please _ , I need you to understand-”

“You’ve been hiding so much from us, and we deserve to know what is going on! I deserve to know what’s going on!” 

“Yes, you do,” Ren agreed without hesitation, “But I already told you that I will tell the whole story once we’re all together. I don’t know if I can tell this story more than once.”

“...Who else?” Ann asked.

“I’m sorry?”

“Who else is there? You keep saying you need all of us together to tell your story, so who else needs to be here for us to get some answers?”

“... We’re missing Fox, Queen, Oracle, and Noir.”

“Codenames? Seriously? You won’t even tell me their real names?!”

“No because I know you’ll just drag them in here! Which is honestly impossible right now for most… Actually you couldn’t get any of them in here without a damn good reason, now that I think about it.”

“Why can’t you just give me a straight answer!”

Ren’s breath caught in his throat.

_ Well, guess I held this back long as I could. _

_     “Why can’t you give us an answer?! You’ve been keeping secrets since we met!!” Panther yelled, fury evident in her eyes as they blazed within her soul. _

_     “You have no idea what could happen if I told you. Hell,  _ I  _ don’t even know what will happen!” _

_ “Ren, please just tell us how you knew they’d die,” Oracle whimpered, tears running down her face, Noir clutching her close to her chest. _

__ _ “What happened to my father Ren? What happened to her mother? And how do you know?” Noir said, her voice low and threatening. _

__ _ “You think I’m the one who did it don’t you?” Joker laughed, the hysterical mirth bubbling out of him, “You think I’m the TRAITOR, DON’T YOU?!” _

__ _ “‘Traitor’?” Skull repeated, “Dude, what the hell are you even talking about?!” _

__ _ “I killed NO ONE, and if I tell you how I know, you’ll BE NEXT!” Joker screeched in fury, “Can’t you see I’m trying to protect you from HIM?!” _

__ _ “WHO REN?! WHO?!” Ann roared. _

**_“GORO-”_ **

     Ren snapped back into reality gasping for breath, curled into himself. Once he collected himself again, he looked around the nurse’s office. His wound was bandaged, he noticed. But most pressing was the fact that Shiho and Ann weren’t in the room with him. He flopped back onto the cot, covering his eyes with his arm.

     “Damn.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seriously guys, I'm sorry this took so damn long. My job just has some very inconsistent days and hours most of the time. Luckily, it looks like my days off are locked in to Sunday and Monday for the foreseeable future, so I can hopefully use those days to hammer in a more consistent writing schedule.
> 
> Thank you all for understanding and for reading


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SORRY THAT TOOK SO DAMN LONG, WE'VE BEEN SCREWED OVER BY SO MUCH STUFF.

  
  


        Ann stalked through the hallway, no real destination in mind. Shiho was just a few steps behind her, a worried look on her face.

        “Ann, are you-?”

        Ann stopped. Dimly, she noted they were right in front of the stairs to the roof.  _ Why the hell had she walked here of all places? _

        “You know who they are,” Ann said. It wasn’t a question.

        “...Not personally, no. All I can really tell you is what Ren told me about them.”

        “And that’s another thing, when the hell  _ did _ he tell you all this?” Ann asked, rounding on Shiho.

        “...On the roof, Ann.”

        Ann’s eyes widened.

        “At first, I think he was just trying to distract me, keep me from going back to the edge, you know? After a while though, it was like he couldn’t stop himself from telling me all about the Phantom Thieves. Near the end, I think he was just venting.”

        “... Could you tell me about them?” Ann asked.

        Shiho didn’t say anything for a moment before she sat down on one of the stairs. She patted next to her, asking Ann to sit next to her.

        “I… He talked the most about this girl he called ‘Oracle.’ She’s like a sister to him, and probably the one he inherited the Featherman laugh from, if I was reading what he told me right,” Shiho snorted.

        “His sister, huh?”

        “Yeah. According to him, without Oracle, the Phantom Thieves never would’ve made it as far as they had. She’s like… the navigator, I think he called her? And a support unit, dealing out buffs and such to those who need it. He really, really loves her, like she hung the moon or something.”

        “Well… What about the others?”

        “Well, he didn’t exactly have time to give me the full rundown on their personalities or anything, so bear with me.”

        “Right. So, I think he said one of them was… Fox, I think?”

        “Oh yeah, that was one. Fox is, in Ren’s own words ‘A very eccentric weirdo who I would gladly trust my life to at any given moment.’ Apparently, he’s one of the heaviest hitters on the team, and just a good guy to have around in general. He always sees another way to look at things, and he can find beauty in just about anything. Though, he does have a bit of a habit of putting his foot in his mouth by saying the very wrong thing at close to the worst time.”

        “What about Queen? She sounds pretty important.”

        “Oh, definitely. Hell, she’s second in command. She’s also about the most level headed, so she keeps everyone in line and stops them all from doing something stupid, even Joker.”

        “She keeps  _ Joker _ in line? Hell, now I just want to meet her so I can shake her hand!”

        Shiho laughed, “Yeah, Ren said she could have that impression on people. Of course, she can be a bit too rigid at times, when it comes to making decisions, which is one of the main reasons she can have trouble making friends or even just speaking her mind. Ren described her as terrifying, yet beautiful; unrelenting, yet gentle.”

        “... And the last one? Noir?”

        “She is a fluffy monster full of adorable bloodlust.”

        Ann waited, “... That’s it?”

        “What else do you need to know?”

        “That can’t be everything about her.”

        “... She has a battleaxe and a grenade launcher,” Shiho added helpfully.

        “Shiho!”

        “Alright, alright, sorry! It’s true though!”

        “Seriously?”

        Shiho thought for a moment, “She’s also the nicest person on the team, bar none.”

        “You just called her a monster,” Ann pointed out, a slightly confused look on her face.

        “Because she cleaves through Shadows with a motherfucking battleaxe with an honest to God smile on her face! She giggles Ann!  _ Giggles!  _ While she is casually killing cognitive Shadows! It’s like, a form of therapy, or something for her.”

        “Therapy?”

        “Old ex. Real douche bag, apparently.”

        “Ah, that makes sense. But you said she’s nice?”

        “Oh yeah, totally. She grows her own vegetable garden and gives out the veggies to help her team, and she’s planning to open up her own coffee shop after she graduates. She also gives out  _ really _ nice hugs to like, anybody who needs one. His words, I’ve yet to experience this myself. But I really want to.”

        “Alright then.”

        Ann was silent for a moment before a question that had been burning couldn’t stay quiet any longer.

        “Shiho. What did you mean back there? Something about 28 years? And what the Hell did Ren mean when he said he wasn’t supposed to be alive?!” Ann demanded, growing almost hysterical as her questions continued.

        “Look Ann, I agree that he should’ve told you more. I told you everything I think you have the right to know. But the rest?” Shiho stared deep into the fiery woman’s eyes with no remorse, “The rest is his story alone, and I will not violate his trust by telling you about the most traumatizing events in his entire life. He respected me, and I’m returning the favor.”

        Ann was silent, staring into her friend’s eyes before finally relenting with a sigh, “Alright. I’ll trust you both,” she said, before a rye grin appeared on her face, “But this better be one hell of a story.”

        Shiho looked at her, only a glint of dark humor in her eyes as she continued, a look of grim seriousness on her face. 

        “Hell is exactly the word I’d use to describe it.”

        The bell signalling the period’s end broke them out of their discussion with its incessant ringing. 

        “...At least we don’t have to deal with Kamoshida,” Shiho said, breaking out of her dark demeanor with a small smile and shrug.

        A quiet thumping began behind them, growing until its volume caused them to flinch. Turning around, the devil they spoke of glared down at them intensely, a disgusting smirk plastered on his face.

        “Well well well, what have we here?”

        “You!” Ann snarled, unable and unwilling to stop the look of utter contempt and disgust on her face.

        “What do  _ you _ want?,” Shiho growled with all the rage and contempt that Ren would have.

        “Ladies, please! I’m simply an educator checking on his students. The roof is closed after that little stunt you pulled, Suzui. I think that transfer student has been a bad influence on you both. I think this calls for  _ punishment.” _

        Shiho flinched back at the insinuation, trying her hardest to stand her ground.

        “There are people right down those stairs. If you try anything, if you lay a hand on either of us, they’ll catch you,” Ann hissed, fire laced into every word she spoke.

        “You think nobody’s caught me before? What do you think happened to  _ Sakamoto?  _ The whole track team saw what happened between us, and you want to know what happened?” Kamoshida leaned in close, whispering, “ _ Nothing. _ Well, nothing except for that little shit being put in his place and the track team disbanding. My point is that in these walls, I can do whatever I want. See, I’m king of this castle, so this will go a lot faster if you two just get-”

        “Don’t even finish that sentence you piece of  _ shit!”  _ Ann nearly screeched.

        “Oh-ho! Verbally assaulting a teacher! That’s worth a couple days of detention you know. Maybe we can use that time to  _ correct _ that behavior of yours, eh Ann?” The smile on his face grew downright lecherous as he unashamedly eyed her up.

        Ann’s eyes filled with fire as she let out a wordless scream, suddenly shoving the monster in front of her down the stairs. His eyes widened, first in disbelief, then in fear as he tumbled in slow motion, his feet leaving the air, his arms pinwheeling desperately searching for any kind of purchase, before finally cracking his head on the landing below. The only sign of life was a small groan coming from him.

        Both girls stared slightly dumbfounded at the heap of a man a few feet away from them, before the pin drop of Shiho’s voice shattered the silence.

_         “Holy shit.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to start off my apologizing for how long this took to get out. Between annoying policy changes and schedules shifting on the fly, having time to sit down to write has been difficult to say the least. From the bottom of my heart, thank you all for your continued patience and support for this story.
> 
> On to other news, you'll notice that the relationship tags for this story have been updated, as both Pines and myself agreed that a romantic polyamorous relationship on top of all the other crap in this story was a tad ambitious. Ren will still be flirty, and have nicknames for people, it just won't actually lead to anything.
> 
> Anyway, that's all I wanted to say. Again, thank you all, and I AM SO SORRY IT TOOK TWENTY F**CKING CHAPTERS FOR THINGS TO ACTUALLY START HAPPENING


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UWU??? WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS??? TWO DAMN CHAPTERS IN A WEEK??????????? C A C K L E S you're welcome ;)

_“Oh you, you terrible thing, you terrible thing, you beautiful thing,~”_ Ren sang as he wandered down the hall, students staring at the bandages wrapped around his neck, peeking out of the replacement sweater that was stocked in the nurse’s office.

 

 _“Holy shit,”_ was all he heard before Ann and Shiho came barreling into him from the stairwell, both at a dead sprint that was stopped when they collided with him, ending with a three-teen pile up against the wall.

 

Ren hissed in pain as his shoulder flared up at the impact, “Hello girls, lovely to see you again.”

 

“Renthere’snotimeforyoursarcasmholyshitwe’reallyscrewed!” Shiho almost screeched into his ear in a rushed panic.

 

“Ow ow! Shiho slow down I can’t understand you!”

 

“‘Ren there’s no time for your sarcasm holy shit we’re really screwed,’” Ann translated as she detangled herself.

 

“Thank you, Ann. First question, why are you screwed? And hopefully that’ll answer the second question of why you’re both running like Hell itself is behind you?”

 

    **_“SHE KILLED THE BASTARD!!!”_ ** Shiho looked like she couldn’t decide between feeling elated or terrified.

 

 **** “That’s… Ann?” Ren looked to her for another helpful translation.

 

    “I pushed Kamoshida down the stairs. I think he’s unconscious.”

 

    Ren’s eyes widened in absolute disbelief, “Well fuck, this has never happened before.”

 

    “You said that out loud-”

 

    “Yes Shiho, I realize my mistake. Doesn’t really change the fact you two are in a lot of trouble right now.”

 

    _I’ve consistently been the only one to be threatened with expulsion every timeline, what the fuck just happened?!_

 

“Okay, okay, we can figure this out. Run me through what happened after you left the nurse’s office.”

 

    Ann looked stricken as she apparently remembered their argument, and how poorly she’d handled that.

 

    “Ann, we’ll talk about it later, I promise. Right now this is more important. What happened?”

 

    “Okay, right. Uh, I was just walking, annoyed with you, Shiho was right behind me. We were on the stairs to the roof before I finally stopped. Shiho told me about those other people you mentioned, at least what little she knew, and then _he_ showed up,” Ann started trembling at the fresh memory, “Son of a bitch said he could do whatever he wanted and then… Everything went red. Next thing I knew, he was on the ground and we were already walking past him. Then we ran into you.”

 

    Ren deeply inhaled, the stress visible on his face as he softly sighed, rubbing the palms of his hands into his eyes. When he removed them from his face, he had a deathly serious look.

 

    “We have to rush Kamoshida’s Palace,” He quietly rumbled, “Now. Shiho, go get Ryuji.”

 

    “Wait, right now-”

 

    **“Now,”** He growled, walking towards the staircase as Shiho runs off in a burst of speed, Ann following close behind her.

 

    With each step Ren took, a loud thump rang out as he came closer and closer to the staircase. A large crowd of students stood around the scene, Kamoshida limp on the ground right where they left him. Walking down the stairs, Ren picked up the man with enough effort, slowly walking back up the stairs. As everyone was staring at him, he paused and spoke.

 

    “What, were you all going to leave him there? I’m taking him to the nurse’s office.”

 

    The crowd quickly dispersed after that. As Ren walked towards the office, he stared dead into Kamoshida’s bleary eyes, a look of confusion and disgust on the older man’s face. Leaning in close, Ren whispered into the man’s ear.

 

    “Sir Suguru Kamoshida, the utter bastard of lust… You’ve committed many, many grave sins,” He rumbled eerily, “And they’re all rather unforgivable, wouldn’t you agree? Any bad deed deserves a punishment, so I believe stealing your heart is in order.”

 

    Entering the nurse’s office, Ren slammed the man onto one of the beds. He practically strutted over to the nurse’s desk at a mockingly slow speed. He pulled on one of the plastic gloves found on the nurse’s desk, before snatching up a red marker off of said desk. He roughly grabbed Kamoshida’s face between his hand, squeezing it painfully tight as he wrote across the man’s forehead.

 

    _Welcome to Hell. Signed, The Phantom Thieves._

 

    Just then, Ryuji burst into the room, followed by Ann and Shiho, his phone already open and set to the MetaNav.

 

    “I hope you’re ready to go, cuz we’ve got at least three different teachers comin’ after us!”

 

    “I’m ready Ryuji!”

 

    Ryuji nodded, before frantically yelling, “Suguru Kamoshida, Shujin Academy, Castle!!”

 

    The world began to warp around them, brick walls turning into stone as their outfits changed from uniforms to battle attire.

  


    **Kamoshida’s Palace**

 

    They arrived, thankfully, in the middle of a safe room. Oddly enough, Morgana was already waiting for them.

 

    “About time you all showed up, I was getting bored,” The not-cat snarked, before his face twisted in confusion at the sight of Shiho, “Hey, what’s - ?”

 

    “Save it Mona,” Joker interrupted, “We have to get the Treasure, _now.”_

 

    Morganna rolled his eyes, “You can’t just waltz in and take it, you need to -”

   

    “Yes, calling card, been there, done that,” Joker interrupted again, his hand seeming to disappear as he reached into his metaphysical locker, “Skull, Panther, come here I have some things you’ll need. You too Mona,” He said as he pulled out several accessories.

   

    “Joker, how did you- _When_ did you-”

 

    “The locker is a trick I picked up, and I bought these,” He said as also began pulling out various bits of clothing, “And these are pieces of additional armor, they’ll help. I was planning to give you these later, but the timetable’s been moved up, Skull here, put this on,” He said as he handed the blond a Demon’s Jacket.

 

    As Skull donned the jacket, he whistled appreciatively, “Pretty slick, Joker. What’s it do?”

 

     “That will improve your strength, and these,” He said while holding up a pair of Skanda socks, “will make you faster.”

 

     “Panther, these will improve your fire attacks,” He said, handing her a pair of Thunder Horns, “And this’ll help with magic casting,” he said as he gave her a Soul Vest+

 

     “Mona, here,” He turned to his feline-esque companion, who frankly looked as if he was having a hard time staying patient waiting for his turn, “This’ll give you an automatic Tarukaja at the start of a fight,” He explained, handing over a Killer Collar, “And this will activate an automatic Sukukaja,” He said as he pinned a Train Badge to the collar.

 

     After the Thieves finished gearing up, Joker turned back to Shiho. She knew what he was going to say, and he knew she knew, but it still needed to be said.

 

     “You need to stay here. You know that right? We can figure out how and why you came along later, but for now, we can’t fight and keep an eye on you at the same time.”

 

     “Yeah, yeah,” Shiho said, waving him off, “I’ll be fine, just go kick his ass ‘bro’,” She said with a vaguely familiar smirk, to which Joker answered in kind.

 

     “Smartass,” He turned to his fellow Thieves, roguish smirk still firmly in place, “Guys, come on. We have a Treasure to steal.”

 

    “What the hell… You already knew about the calling card too...” Mona sighed, a confused look on his face, “Are you sure you aren’t really a shadow?”

   

    “I’ve been doing this for a long time, that’s all.”

   

    “You’re just a kid, how long could you have been doing this?”

 

    “Okay first, it’s rude to ask someone’s age, second I’m not a kid, I’ve been to jail, and third, I’m older than you so shush.”

 

    _Although pretty much everyone here is older than you, you’re like… A few months old right now._

 

“You’ve been to jail?!” Panther exclaimed, “For what?!”

   

     “Assault and battery. Pretty much curb stomped the fucker. Not sorry about it either,” he drawled, a bored tone in his voice, “Got put in solitary for a while after defending one of the kids getting picked on by worse criminals. I don’t regret that either, although it was pretty terrible to be in that cramped cage of a room. Weren’t there rumors about that already? I’m pretty sure my record got leaked.”

 

     “Dude, if you listen to the rumors, then you’re a drug dealing prostitute who’d gut someone like a fish if they look at you funny,” Skull pointed out.

 

     Joker tilted his head back and forth, as if thinking about something, “Drug dealing isn’t entirely _inaccurate_ , although I keep the drugs for myself.” 

 

     “Wait, what-”    

 

     “Kidding, I just have crippling PTSD, don’t worry about it, it’s all prescribed.”

 

     “PTS- _You’re seventeen!”_ Morgana cried.   

 

     “Some people are born with PTSD if their mother was traumatized before their birth. I mean, that’s not how I got it, but the point still stands.”

 

     “So how _did_ you get-” Panther started to ask, already knowing how this particular line of questioning was going to go.

 

     “Unimportant. Just… Try to keep the hysterical murder rage to a minimum.”

 

     Just then, the air, the floor, the walls, all of the world around them, _pulsed._ The feeling in the air changed, causing hair to stand up, and sending shivers down everyone’s spines. It was as if the Palace itself had noticed their presence, and was enraged.

 

     “Jeez, about time. I was beginning to think the bastard was never going to realize what I did,” Joker said, pulling out his knife and twirling it.

 

     “Has anyone ever told you how terrifying you are?” Ryuji softly sighed.

 

     “Yes, but now’s not the time for that. Now is heist time, come along,” And with that, and a flourish of his coat, Joker and his band of Thieves exited the safe room, storming the Castle of Lust.

**Author's Note:**

> So this is it, my first Persona fic. I had this idea shortly after I started my NG+ and it didn't leave so I ran with it. Comments and reviews appreciated.


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